Sorceress: Civil War
by Lil Drop Of Magic
Summary: Hermione, alone, knows of the horrors that are coming from across the galaxy, and is willing to do whatever it takes to stop him... Part SIX in series.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - I do not own anything from Harry Potter or the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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"Please confirm your name and country of origin," Babajide Akingbade, the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, called down to her.

"Hermione Rogers, née Granger, of the United Kingdom," she replied, trying to pitch her voice at an appropriate tone and volume. She felt sick with apprehension and, though she didn't want to appear overly confident, nor would her case benefit from her being a meek, timid figure either. However, feeling the stares of dozens of the most important witches and wizards in the world, she had to admit to herself that it would be extremely easy to embody the latter persona.

Akingbade nodded expectantly. He was much bigger in person than Hermione had expected, and his sweeping royal blue robes, embroidered with bold golden patterns, certainly added to his impressive figure. She had long been an admirer of his since he became the Supreme Mugwump, but being under his scrutiny (and that of a lot of other witches and wizards she looked up to) was not an enjoyable experience.

"Mrs Rogers, are you aware of the charges that have been brought against you?" The deepness of his voice reflected the seriousness of the accusations.

"I am," she confirmed.

"For the benefit of the Confederation, I will read them aloud," Akingbade announced. As he did so, Hermione glanced up at the staggered benches that surrounded her. The vast majority of the faces were unfamiliar to her but they all wore similarly mixed expressions of concern and curiosity – after all, this was _their_ first sighting of the Sorceress. Most of them would have been aware of her existence for a number of years as, when she had first started working with S.H.I.E.L.D, Kingsley had discretely sought their permission for her to magically travel through their country should the situation call for it.

Kingsley, himself, was sat near the head of the room, only a couple of seats away from Akingbade. In the first few days of her custody, Hermione had been worried that (amongst many other things) she had let Kingsley down and she'd feared that the political fallout following her arrest would cost him his position as Minister. He had only visited her once during her incarceration and he had stated immediately that this would be because, according to him, it was important that he not show favouritism for her cause in case others suspected that he was simply doing so to save his own reputation.

Hermione had groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry, Kingsley," she murmured, "This is pretty much the worst thing that could have happened."

"I'm not convinced that's true," he replied evenly and she gaped at him, before listing off all the bad things that _had_ happened and probably _would_ happen to them both in the next few weeks in case, inexplicably, he somehow didn't understand the situation. Kingsley simply watched her calmly until she ran out of steam and she faltered.

"You- you're serious, aren't you?" she accused.

"Well, I told you that making a decision regarding the Avengers' knowledge of magic was far beyond you or I," he replied evenly. "Now, if you argue your case correctly, you'll have them lawfully accepted." Hermione simply stared at him so Kingsley continued, "You want to highlight the possible threat our world faces from Thanos and now you can appeal directly to the most powerful organisation of witches and wizards across the globe. Those people who have coolly agreed that you can fight to protect the magical world on their behalf – those people who are happy for you to lay your life on the line to protect _all_ humankind – those same people can now look you in the eye, see you for who you are, and they have to listen to what you have to say. Tell them your story and _make them understand_ ," he finished, punctuating each word sharply.

His words had weighed heavily on her ever since and although she saw that she hadn't yet cost Kingsley his job, it was still a distinct possibility if the trial didn't go the way either of them wanted. She had a sneaking suspicion that he had manipulated Draco into attempting to modify the Avengers' memories in New York without the proper paperwork in order to bring the whole matter before the Confederation. If that was true, it was a very risky strategy – not helped, of course, by the discovery of her advanced wandless magic and her attack of the ministry employees – but Hermione hoped that she could pull it all off.

As the defendant, Hermione was allowed to defer her meeting before the Confederation for a maximum of six weeks in order to build her defence. She had opted for the full allowance, not because she needed that long to prepare for what she wanted to say, but so that she could prove that the Avengers could be trusted with the knowledge. Steve wrote to her daily except when he was given permission to visit her (which was less often than either of them were happy about) but he assured her that, thankfully, nothing dramatic had happened since Sokovia.

Her correspondence with Steve was always the highlight of her day (unless Harry managed to visit) but it also caused her deep loneliness when she had finished reading his letter and she remembered that she had nothing but her own strength to keep her demons at bay. She was not always successful at this, particularly at night, when she didn't have any potions to stop her from dreaming, and she'd lost count of the number of times she'd had to repair the different objects in her sparse room from magical releases.

"How do you plea to the charges?" Akingbade asked.

Hermione licked her lips and cleared her throat. "Not guilty," she proclaimed, eliciting a few murmurs from the witches and wizards around her, but Akingbade nodded as though he expected such a plea from her.

"We will hear opening statements," the Supreme Mugwump announced, before indicating a person over Hermione's shoulder. "First we will hear from the prosecution. The case is being led by Draco Malfoy: the British Ministry employee who first suspected the defendant of wrongdoing."

Hermione sensed a figure draw level with her. She refrained from glancing over at her childhood rival as she took her seat, but she could see his platinum-blond hair in her peripheral vision and his overly expensive cologne assaulted her senses.

"Thank you, Supreme Mugwump," Malfoy answered respectfully, inclining his head as he took a further few steps forward so that Hermione couldn't help but see him. "Distinguished wizards and witches of the Confederation," he addressed, turning slowly to look at them all, "There is no doubt that we are living in difficult times – the advancement of muggle technology has wrought chaos across the world, resulting in new, almost unimaginable dangers to our way of life. Five years ago, Hermione Granger, as she was still called then, was sent to meet with a now defunct muggle agency named S.H.I.E.L.D – a decision I think we can all agree was unprecedented. Many of you here were privy to the knowledge that Miss Granger was working supposedly on magical kind's behalf." He paused and a raised a well-defined eyebrow, "The muggle phrase about, 'keeping your enemies closer' comes to mind." There were a few concerned glances between the members of the Confederation and Hermione unconsciously clenched her jaw at the outdated notion that muggles were the enemy.

"Witches and wizards throughout the world would be alarmed and outraged just hearing of a magical person performing spells freely in front of muggles – a huge violation of the Statute of Secrecy that Mrs Rogers has broken practically every day for the last five years. And yet, this breach has not _only_ occurred in private, but also through her public persona as the 'Sorceress'! A name, I am given to understand, familiar to _billions_ of people across the globe. You can even buy merchandise bearing the 'Sorceress' name and her likeness!

"The preservation and safety of our way of life is _fundamental_ for all magical kind and, in order to do that, we must keep our societies away from the greed of muggles; away from, quite frankly, the _dangerous_ and irresponsible individuals who would seek to take advantage of magic – the sort of muggles who are capable of developing technology that can lift an entire city high enough above the earth's surface that it could have _destroyed all life_." Draco finished his sentence harshly, emphasising (not that anyone needed him to) just how close to disaster things had come in Sokovia. "And yet, disturbingly, those very muggles _are_ the ones that know about magic's presence throughout the world – thanks to Mrs Rogers. However, she would have you believe that this is no great threat to magical kind, that these muggles can be trusted with such knowledge! I am sure you'll agree with me that the crater where Sokovia once stood clearly proves otherwise." There was a deal of shuffling at these emotive words and Hermione tried to focus on keeping her breathing steady as Draco continued again.

"As for the other two charges – illegal advancement of magic and attacking employees of the British Ministry – there can be no question of the defendant's guilt as I witnessed them myself." Draco sighed and glanced at Hermione for the first time since the trial had begun and she didn't quite know what to make of the expression on his face. "I am sure every single person in this room is aware of Hermione Rogers' personal history – we're not here to discredit her or act ungratefully for how she has defended magical kind in the past. But no one is above the law. Hermione Rogers must be punished for the crimes she has committed, just like anybody else would be."

Draco returned to his seat and Hermione reflected on his opening statement: he'd said nothing she hadn't anticipated him saying but she knew it would take an awful lot of convincing arguments on her part to get the Confederation to find her innocent of the charges.

"Mrs Rogers," Akingbade called, "Please make your opening statement in response to the charges."

Hermione nodded and rose from her seat, stepping with forced confidence into the centre of the floor. She cleared her throat. "Supreme Mugwump, members of the Confederation, I stand before you today in a fight for our future. Traditions and history are key to our identities but, unless we come together, our way of life will soon no longer exist – life on this planet may soon no longer exist." She tried to ignore the raised eyebrows and whisperings that broke out at her words but ploughed onwards, determined to make them listen to her. "You may have wondered why Minister Shacklebolt was unable to update you on activity from the Sorceress for about eighteen months. That was because I was abducted and transported across the galaxy."

"She's mad!" somebody cried as shouts and noises erupted on the benches.

Akingbade noisily shot lilac sparks across the hall and called for quiet and order. "Let Mrs Rogers make her statement," he instructed, looking sternly at the gathered witches and wizards.

"I know it sounds crazy," Hermione said softly, "but if you'd seen what I have – the dangers and the destruction that are heading our way – I want to believe that you would all do everything you could to protect the people of this world, both those with magic and those without. Today, I stand before you for the first time. Many of you will have heard of my exploits for S.H.I.E.L.D, as an Avenger, as the Sorceress or even as a schoolchild. Now you see me as I am: simply a human being. What I have done, I have done to protect us all and, during the proceedings, I hope that you will see that I am not guilty of the charges brought against me today. But, more importantly, I seek to make you understand that change is no longer an option for us if we wish to survive."

The noise level was not as high as before but conversation buzzed all around her as she returned to her seat.

"I warned you not to go with the 'alien abduction' story," Draco muttered to her.

"It's not a 'story'," she retorted, "It's the _truth_." He didn't look convinced. She would need to change that.

"As you all know," Akingbade announced, bringing an end to the individual discussions, "this is an unusual case: the alleged crimes have been committed in countless countries and we therefore cannot turn to one country to preside over the proceedings while we lend our advice. Therefore, I will chair the events and we will work through each accusation before coming to a potential series of votes. Both the prosecution and the defence are permitted to call witnesses to support their arguments should they wish."

Hermione nodded, already aware of the format the trial would take.

"Mrs Rogers and Mr Malfoy, you may well be questioned by members of the Confederation during any point of the trial. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

"Very well," Akingbade said, picking up one of the many pieces of parchment that sat on the counter before him. "It would make sense for us to begin by looking at the events that put all of this into motion. Minister Shacklebolt," Akingbade turned his body position to face the British Minister, who looked back seemingly untroubled, "According to Mrs Rogers' written testimony, you approached her to liaise with S.H.I.E.L.D in early June 2011, is that correct?"

"Yes, Supreme Mugwump," Kingsley answered and then, without prompting, proceeded to explain about S.H.I.E.L.D's frequent requests for a liaison after detecting magic in the UK and the events in the muggle world (particularly at Puente Antiguo) that had finally led to his agreement to provide one. "I am sure you are now all familiar with the name 'Thor' and of his origin, but at that time there was too little information on this new threat. So, after discussion with my counterpart at MACUSA," Kingsley indicated the smartly-robed man sat next to him, "I decided to find the best person for the job."

President Quahog of MACUSA nodded deeply throughout Kingsley's explanation before adding to the Confederation, "I can confirm that Minister Shacklebolt's testimony is accurate."

Malfoy stood up. "May I ask, Minister, Mr President, why a matter as serious as this – a muggle intelligence agency aware of magic – was not brought to the attention of the Confederation? Or even an International Office of Magical Law in one of your own or many other magical ministries around the world?"

Hermione glanced at Draco, somewhat surprised at his line of questioning – it seemed that he was intent on taking on _all_ those he deemed responsible for this breach of the Statute of Secrecy. That could go one of two ways: either Draco's aggressive questioning could annoy many of the present magical leaders (who were complicit in allowing her to work as the Sorceress in their country) making them vote in her favour so that they, too, could deny having done anything wrong, _or_ , Draco's questions could inspire guilty consciences amongst the Confederation, forcing them to punish her so as to save themselves.

"Until we could ascertain what S.H.I.E.L.D knew about magic, there was little point in causing panic amongst the Confederation," President Quahog replied smoothly. "Minister Shacklebolt kept me informed of Mrs Rogers' initial work with the muggles and I was pleased that things were being dealt with appropriately – we found out about threats to the world and the muggles knew nothing about magic's true origin thanks to her cover story."

Kingsley nodded. "Once Hermione had begun to establish herself within S.H.I.E.L.D and the situation was secure, members of the Confederation were informed of her work, and it was agreed that this line of deception was the best way to hide the truth about magic from the muggles."

"But she _still_ performed countless spells in front of them," Draco argued, "Whether she told them the truth about her magic or not, their witnessing of every single example of magic was a breach of the International Statute of Secrecy!"

"It was necessary," Hermione defended, "How else was I supposed to do my job? S.H.I.E.L.D employed me because of my gifts – my story would have collapsed within minutes if I wasn't able to perform spells at will. I never gave anyone details of how the magic was performed and I said all my spells non-verbally so not even the incantations were heard."

"Your use of magic was _not_ 'necessary'," Draco maintained, "because your job with S.H.I.E.L.D _was not necessary_. Magical kind has never needed a muggle connection and it doesn't need one now. It is clear that the decision to send you to meet with S.H.I.E.L.D – a decision that has had consequences for _all_ magic users – was not made through the proper authorities and that recklessness has put us all at risk!"

"When the decision was made to send a representative to meet with S.H.I.E.L.D, the only countries affected were Britain and the States," Kingsley argued confidently, despite the mutterings around the room. "We did not know where the initial meeting would lead. Ministries are not required to inform the Confederation of every decision it makes in relation to the upholding of the Statute of Secrecy – and before you disagree with me, Mr Malfoy – that _was_ a huge factor in why someone was sent to meet S.H.I.E.L.D in the first place; to hide the truth of magic from them."

"Sometimes you need to show part of a truth to conceal the whole," added President Quahog. "It was the most practical option in that situation and many of the delegates sat around us agreed." He looked pointedly at the Supreme Mugwump and Malfoy pursed his lips in annoyance; even _he_ wasn't brave enough to criticise Akingbade.

The man in question cleared his throat and then regarded Hermione, saying, "Shortly after the initial meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D, you chose to enter their employment." She nodded. "Why?"

"Because the dangers I had learned of, both muggle-made and from other worlds, worried me," she answered simply. "The threats had been contained thus far but, if something more dangerous were to have come along, it could have been too late for magic to step in and avert a disaster. The best way to ensure that magical-kind around the world knew what was going on was to be part of the setup. It was at this point that Minister Shacklebolt started meeting with more members of the Confederation to seek their permission – both for me to travel and perform magic in sight of muggles."

"I see," Akingbade nodded and then lifted his head to look out over the whole Confederation. "For the state of the record, may I ask you to raise your hand if you, or someone involved within your ministry, were approached by Minister Shacklebolt or someone else regarding Mrs Rogers' work with S.H.I.E.L.D?" There was a slight rustling of fabric and Hermione glanced around, relieved to see that all hands were raised. "If you did not give permission for the defendant to travel to your country or use magic as she saw fit to maintain her cover as a single magic user, please lower your hand." Hermione held her breath – she'd never asked Kingsley if anyone _hadn't_ gone along with their plan…

All the hands stayed aloft.

"Let it be recorded that all members of the Confederation were in favour of Mrs Rogers working undercover at S.H.I.E.L.D – so long as the general secrecy of the wizarding world was kept firmly hidden," Akingbade declared. Hermione would've been pleased were there not still three major charges against her to work through. And having the support of the Confederation at this point didn't mean they would still back her through the rest of the proceedings – indeed, if they assumed she had exploited their trust in her by revealing worldwide magic to the Avengers, they may feel obligated to treat her severely.

"Mrs Rogers, in your own words, how would you describe the effectiveness of your security measures to protect knowledge of the existence of wider magic from June 2011 onwards?" Akingbade asked.

"The measures have been extremely effective, sir," she replied. "No breach of the secrecy has ever occurred due to an oversight or recklessness on my part. I stuck to my background story, telling countless lies to colleagues and new associates. To prevent alarm and maintain the cover of the Sorceress, a story was also concocted for people in the magical world as to why I had relocated – not even my family or closest friends knew of my true work."

"Until…" Draco prompted, making Hermione glance at him in annoyance.

"In May 2012, Loki of Asgard came to Earth with the intention of conquering the world. Through efforts to prevent this from happening, a team of gifted individuals was formed – The Avengers. Our task was far from simple as Loki was capable of his own magic, was known for his tricks and plots, and also possessed two immensely powerful objects. When we tracked his position to Manhattan, Loki was able to use one of these objects – a sceptre containing an ancient, magical gem – to affect my thinking processes. This meant that I started fighting _for_ Loki and I went about neutralising the other Avengers one by one. Fortunately, we had seen the sceptre at work before and Director Fury from S.H.I.E.L.D – my initial contact and the only person who knew about wider magic – reached out to Minister Shacklebolt just in case I should become influenced by its power."

Kingsley took over the story once more. "There was great concern on both sides that, should Hermione be affected, she would be too powerful for S.H.I.E.L.D or the Avengers to stop. It would take another witch or wizard to contain her. Unbeknownst to Mrs Rogers, I sent a wizard to America to be on standby to step in should that happen. I sent Harry Potter – a wizard with both extensive duelling experience and a personal relationship with Hermione – because he would be able to anticipate her next moves more accurately."

"I do not recall what happened when I was under the influence of the sceptre," Hermione informed the Confederation. "So I call for Mr Potter to bring you his testimony of the events."

This wasn't an unexpected move on her part and she was sure that, if she hadn't called Harry, Draco soon would have done so anyway.

The ornate wooden doors to the Confederation Hall were opened noisily and Hermione turned to watch Harry enter the room. He'd never been comfortable with the stares of others on him, but he was doing a good job of appearing reasonably calm as he walked along the hall until he was level with Hermione and Draco.

Akingbade regarded him. "Please confirm your name for the Confederation."

"Harry Potter."

"Mr Potter, you have been called as a witness during this hearing of the actions of Hermione Rogers before the International Confederation of Wizards," Akingbade said, saying the words he was legally required to cite to each witness. "It is your duty to relate the events you witnessed with honesty so that justice may be served. Do you understand?"

"I do."

"Supreme Mugwump," Draco began politely, making Hermione suspicious, "I would like to bring International Magical Law one hundred and twenty-nine, subsection B, to the attention of the Confederation. In it, it states that anyone submitting evidence during a grand hearing such as this – be they a member of the Confederation themselves or simply called as a witness – can be found guilty of breaking Magical Law along with the defendant. This might be through a complicit charge or a separate one."

Hermione was right to be uneasy – Draco wanted to get Harry locked away too! She tried not to let her outrage show on her face and focused on keep her magic in control.

"You suspect Mr Potter of acting illegally?" Akingbade asked.

"Very much so, sir," Draco replied confidently, "As Mr Potter's testimony will now prove."

Hermione looked at Harry in concern. She knew all about law one hundred and twenty-nine, subsection B, and had warned her best friend about it because she knew he was at risk of prosecution too.

"Don't be an idiot, Harry!" she had argued when they'd discussed the matter recently. "If you tell them about revealing yourself to Steve in Midtown, you could end up in prison – think of Ginny and James! It's bad enough that I'm going through this – I'm not going to risk your freedom too, I would never forgive myself."

"I'm not going to lie to the Confederation, Hermione," he pointed out.

"I know, but, well," she muttered, before deciding, "I just won't call you as a witness."

"That doesn't matter; Malfoy will," he argued and she sighed in frustration, feeling defeated. "Look, I am answerable for the decisions I have made, just like you. _You're_ not going to lie to the Confederation, are you?"

"No, but – "

"But nothing," he interrupted. "The only way I'll be able to look my wife and son in the eye again will be by knowing that I have stood before the judgement of others and done so honourably and truthfully. No one is free if they've bought their liberty with lies and deceit – that's what Malfoy will be hoping we do. If we are honest with the Confederation, then there's still every chance that they'll see what we did was right..."

Akingbade instructed Harry to begin describing what happened three years ago and Hermione listened anxiously.

"Minister Shacklebolt met with me privately on the second of May 2012 where he informed me of Hermione's true career, how she was at risk from an unknown powerful object and that I was to travel to the United States to stop her should the worst happen," Harry stated calmly. "My journey was to happen immediately because Hermione's whereabouts was unknown at the time. However, once I arrived, Hermione had resumed contact with her team and I was asked by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D to stay close until the conflict was resolved. During that waiting time, I spoke discretely with members of MACUSA, warning them of the potential chaos Loki might cause and requesting assistance if that should occur."

"Mr Potter had a series of closed meetings with myself and the head of our Auror Department," President Quahog confirmed.

Harry nodded. "It was during one of these meetings that Loki opened a portal through space and an alien army started attacking New York. It also became clear very quickly that Hermione had been turned by Loki and was wreaking havoc amongst the Avengers." Harry paused and looked to Quahog.

"In light of these events, I ordered my top twenty aurors to discretely contain the attackers while Mr Potter neutralised Mrs Rogers," the President admitted. "Although my aurors are experts at concealing themselves from the no-majs, we disrupted their communications as much as we could too."

"I tracked Hermione to a diner she had just launched a bus through and quickly erected anti-disapparation wards," Harry continued. "We started duelling and it was clear that the object Loki had used had rendered her more powerful. I am sure that I would have lost the duel were it not for the intervention of one of the Avengers. Steve Rogers, known as Captain America, had been amongst the rubble in the diner and he managed to knock Hermione unconscious while her attention was focused on our duel." Harry paused and Hermione bit her lip nervously. "Rogers was extremely surprised to see another person capable of magic, meaning Hermione's cover story with S.H.I.E.L.D was effective. However, in light of the seriousness of the alien invasion, I decided not to modify his memory so that he would have no recollection of seeing me. My main reason for doing so was that I anticipated that a memory charm in the midst of a frenetic battle would only make things more dangerous and, if performed badly, the charm could lead to suspicion and confusion from the rest of the Avengers. They needed a fully functioning Captain American to lead them to victory over Loki's forces. The world needed to see the Avengers win – not get suspicious that they had outside help. With Hermione unconscious at the time, it also helped to have someone aware of the truth. After informing Steve Rogers of the importance of the secrecy of magic, I joined the rest of MACUSA's aurors with containing the alien threat and discretely protecting the muggles of the city. Once the portal had been closed, we modified memories of the event so that people wouldn't even remember the aliens, let alone any magic. Hermione was not aware of any other magical involvement during the battle of New York, or that Steve Rogers had knowledge of it, until the next day, after which I returned to Britain. I have been a backup liaison with S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers ever since."

"And what of Steve Rogers' knowledge of multiple magical people?" Malfoy asked silkily. "This breach of the Statute of Secrecy was surely reported and dealt with by MACUSA?"

"Due to the exceptional circumstances brought about by the existence of the 'Sorceress'," Harry answered without a moment's hesitation, "Steve Rogers was accepted as the muggle liaison to Wizarding Britain after a few months of close observation."

Malfoy scoffed at this but Hermione said confidently, "Steve Rogers has never once broken that trust in three years."

"That's not the point," Malfoy argued. "You and Mr Potter had a legal responsibility to report Mr Rogers to MACUSA immediately. Was this done?"

"Mr Rogers' knowledge was mentioned in my official report of the events that was submitted to both the British Ministry and MACUSA," Harry replied.

"As it was in mine," Hermione added. "When asked about it by Minister Shacklebolt, I argued that Steve Rogers had shown no inclination to share his knowledge of wider magic with others and modifying his memory would only make matters worse."

"Was that before or after you entered into a relationship with him?" Draco asked pointedly.

" _Before_ ," Hermione responded clearly.

"What about before or after you had developed feelings for him?" Malfoy countered.

Hermione flushed angrily. "I can't say for certain when that started but the way I felt about Steve did not influence my reasons for arguing against memory modification."

"I don't believe you," Malfoy stated shaking his head. "You let your personal feelings affect a decision that could have exposed magic throughout the world. Because you liked Steve Rogers – be that as a colleague, a friend or something more – you selfishly chose to ignore the law that has kept our society intact for hundreds of years. Your arrogance and irresponsibility to the people you claim to protect is staggering!" Malfoy barely left a chance for those words to sink in before he turned on Harry. "And Mr Potter's actions were no better! He failed to make sure the law was properly enforced because of his friendship with Mrs Rogers."

"Working so closely with muggles is new territory for us all," Harry argued, trying to stay calm in the face of Malfoy's anger. "There were always going to be grey areas because this hasn't been done before, and difficult decisions needed to be made to protect both muggles and magical kind."

"You and Mrs Rogers do not have the authority to make those sorts of decisions!" Draco maintained passionately. "We have an International Confederation to do that for us. When individuals decide what the law should be, society descends into chaos."

"Mr Malfoy," Kingsley's deep voice rolled over the intense looks Harry and Hermione were sharing with Draco. "While I admire the passion with which you argue your point, Steve Roger's role of a liaison has been a successful one and he has shown that he can be trusted with magical knowledge."

"But what about the others, Minister?" Draco asked coolly.

"The others?"

"The other Avengers," Draco clarified. "Can _they_ be trusted with such secrets?" He sounded extremely sceptical and took a moment for that to sink in before announcing clearly, "I call Mr Tony Stark to the hall."

* * *

A/N: Did you miss me?

I know I said May but they moved the Infinity War release date forwards so I thought I'd help ramp up the excitement! I'm seeing the film on the 26th so feel free to drop me spoilery reviews after that point! I don't know about you guys but I start tearing up whenever I see an advert or a trailer. I'm very nervous about the film breaking my heart!

Anyway, let me know what you thought of the chapter, Infinity War, or if there's anyone even still reading this series!

Love,

Lil Drop of Magic


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello everyone! It's been so lovely to hear from you all after that long hiatus. Thank you for all that submitted a review, favourited and followed!

Let's see how Tony gets on with the Confederation, shall we?

* * *

Hermione couldn't hold back a gasp of astonishment. She'd had access to Draco's witness list for days and Tony's name hadn't been on there. Seeing her surprise, Draco smugly murmured, "Always check the list one last time before the hearing starts." She frowned at him and then turned her gaze to the large doors again as there were loud discussions on the benches around her.

Hermione couldn't believe that Malfoy would invite a muggle into the very heart of International Magical Cooperation when he was so keen to have wider magic's existence wiped from Tony's brain. But, maybe, that was part of the point of bringing him here. She could see by the horrified expressions on the faces of some of the members of the Confederation that they were appalled that a muggle should see so deeply into their society. Some would want his memory modified purely for that purpose alone!

Hermione clenched her fists, angry that Draco was purely using Tony as a pawn in this game of a hearing. The more magic Tony saw and was exposed to, the more his brain could be affected by the memory spell.

Tony stepped into view, looking only slightly less confident than normal. He looked around with interest at everything and then quipped, "Is this 'Merlin-lovers Anonymous?'" Hermione momentarily shut her eyes in despair. Tony walked forwards casually until he was level with Harry and she attempted to tell him telepathically to take this seriously but he simply nodded at her and said, "Good to see you, Martha," which made her cringe again. She wondered what Malfoy had said to Tony to make him agree to come here – he had to know that Malfoy was part of the prosecution. Surely Tony hadn't forgotten that if Hermione couldn't prevent it, his memory - along with the rest of the Avengers - would be modified.

Akingbade was looking down at Tony with a completely closed expression. "Please confirm your name for the Confederation."

"Tony Stark."

"Mr Stark, you have been called as a witness during this hearing of the actions of Hermione Rogers before the International Confederation of Wizards. It is your duty to relate the events you witnessed with honesty so that justice may be served. Do you understand?"

"It's a bit rich of you guys to demand honesty when your society promotes secrecy and falsehoods every day, isn't it?" he replied. At the lack of response, he briefly raised his eyebrows and muttered, "Wow, OK," then raised his voice, "I understand – I _always_ understand."

Hermione forced out a couple of steadying breaths because she suddenly felt nauseated. She presumed that Tony was covering his own nerves by being _extra Tony,_ but if she didn't do some damage limitation they were going to lose everything!

"So, when you created the robot, 'Ultron', you understood that he was going to try and destroy the planet?" Draco asked smoothly.

"That was more an error in semantics," Tony argued, "Ultron was told to save the world and he thought that the best way to do that was to get rid of humankind – have us evolve into something better."

" _Semantics_ ," Draco repeated, sounding almost a little surprised himself. "Did you hear that everyone? All life was nearly made extinct because the machine Mr Stark created _didn't quite understand its instructions_!"

Tony's jaw tensed. "I was trying to protect everyone."

"I didn't ask for your protection," Draco pointed out. "The people of Sokovia surely didn't either –the thousands that have only a crater to remind them of their former lives: all the men, women and children that _died_ because of _semantics_."

Tony's demeanour became even more serious. "You believe I don't think about that every hour of every day?"

"No, Mr Stark, I think you do," Draco said evenly, "But what worries me is that I think you'd do something just like it all over again – push technology to the limits without considering the consequences."

"The consequences of doing nothing are more severe," Tony replied. "Hostile beings from across space are coming for us and we're not ready to stop them."

"Oh, really?" Draco asked his tone of voice indicating how ridiculous that sounded. "How do you know these aliens are coming? Have you seen them or received a communication the rest of us are unaware of?"

"Because _I_ told him," Hermione announced firmly and then continued before Malfoy got the chance to mock her too. "In October 2013, I was taken from this planet against my will and transported across the galaxy to a powerful being called Thanos. He was the one who gave Loki the means to attack Earth in 2012. He heard about my abilities and attempted to make me loyal to his cause through emotional and physical torture. Thanos was very keen on technological advancements in his subjects and, amongst other modifications to my body, he oversaw a procedure which fused my wand core to my spine. _That_ is the explanation behind the second charge I am facing today – I didn't even have a warning that he intended to modify my body in any way, let alone any say in the matter."

"Mrs Rogers, what effect has that procedure had on your magical ability?" Akingbade asked. Hermione tried not to let her nervousness at answering that question show.

"I can now perform all spells wandlessly," she admitted and whispers broke out on the benches. "I would say the strength of my spells has also increased. However, I am more prone to outbursts of uncontrolled magic – particularly at night – and I am still learning to control it." She felt the weight of the Confederation's gaze more heavily and swallowed anxiously. "I – I know how rare it is for someone who practises Western magic to do so without a wand but I am aware, Supreme Mugwump, that you and those here of African or Native American descent still use wandless magic in your day-to-day lives, though not to the extent that I am now capable of. I understand the concerns many of you will have but I have absolutely no desire to abuse this power that I was unwillingly given."

Hermione risked a glance over to the benches and saw many a troubled expression on the faces of the Confederation, and more than one person spoke quietly to the witch or wizard next to them whilst shaking their head.

"Carry on describing what happened to you, Mrs Rogers," Akingbade ordered and Hermione nodded.

"Well, in short, after pretending to be subservient to Thanos for many months, I managed to escape and make my way back to Earth."

There were a few moments of silence after her speech as the wizards and witches around her tried to make sense of her tale. "Well, that's _certainly_ quite a story," Malfoy said patronizingly, "But do you honestly expect us to believe it?"

"Why wouldn't you?" she countered, "We've had aliens in New York and an alien attack in Greenwich. You've heard about Thor and Loki without too much consternation. I could talk to you for hours about the different planets, star systems and species I was taught about and encountered. Supreme Mugwump, may I?" she asked pointing to the ceiling. He nodded, looking curious. With a wave of her hand, Hermione dimmed the lights and conjured an image of a planet above them. "This is Xandar, located in the Andromeda Galaxy" she informed them. "It is home to twelve billion people and it is the capital of the Nova Empire." Concentrating hard, she altered the image to show what Xandar looked like on the surface. There was a lot of muttering about the different species that were visible and she took the time to explain where each of the different beings originated from. "How else would you like me to convince you?" Hermione asked Draco. "Do you want me to tell you about the device Thanos made me wear that would inflict unbearable pain on me whenever I did something he disapproved of? Do you want me to tell you how I temporarily lost all hope when Thanos convinced me that he had destroyed Earth and everyone I held dear? Do you want me to let you kick me in the ribs to prove that my body has been encased in a protective armour that I don't even understand?"

She turned slowly so that she could address all members of the Confederation. "Do you know how much I wish that I was making this all up; that this had never happened to me? We are not alone in the universe and we are not the strongest out there. Thanos isn't going to stop until he's wiped out half of the universe. Not only that but our planet has caught Thanos' attention, and I have no doubt that he will seek to destroy us because we have stood up to him. I do not consider today's proceedings to be trivial in any way, but stopping Thanos is of the utmost importance in our immediate future. Their technology far surpasses what muggles are currently capable of and if Thanos' forces arrived today, next month or even a couple of years from now, we would be unable to stop him even with magic on our side. The survival of the human race is at stake – which is why Tony is pushing the boundaries and making the risky decisions to give us a head start in stopping Thanos. If muggles and magic stay separate, we will all die. I am sure of it. I never intended for the rest of the Avengers to find out about wider magic but it gives us the opportunity to work alongside each other towards a common goal – and I'm not talking about announcing magic everywhere – only those who already know. The Avengers have not served this world as they should have in the last couple of months, we'd be the first to admit that. But if you modify their memories, make them forget about wider magic, you'll be meddling with the minds that are the world's best chance of protecting the world from Thanos. We need to choose our future, not the past."

Again, there was a lot of discussion and Hermione helped herself to a sip of water as her mouth was parched from talking for so long.

"Good speech," Tony complimented her and Harry nodded.

"Don't say or do anything antagonistic," she quietly warned Tony under the hubbub of the continued conversations around them.

Akingbade held up his hand for silence and the talking quickly died down. "We are getting ahead of ourselves and should return to the charges," he recommended. "While we have you here, Mr Stark, I would like to ask you if you had any suspicions about wider magic before it was revealed to you."

"As insulting as it is to my supposed intelligence, I didn't have any idea that there are more people like Hermione around the world," Tony admitted. "I don't think anyone else had any suspicions either. I knew she was lying about _something_ because she'd mentioned lying to me when she'd been drugged whilst we were both captives, but she didn't reveal any details."

"And how did you become aware that Mrs Rogers was not the only person capable of magic?" Akingbade asked.

"Ultron joined forces with a brother and sister from Sokovia. They had developed powers from Loki's sceptre – you know about the sceptre, right?" At Akingbade's nod, Tony continued, "Wanda gained the ability to see inside your head, see your worst fears. She saw both of ours when we regained possession of the sceptre and, at a later encounter, she told the Avengers that she'd seen others capable of magic in Hermione's head. When I confronted Hermione about it, she refused to tell me anything more because of your secrecy law."

"Did Mrs Rogers mention anything about changing your memories because of what you knew?" Draco asked.

"No, but that would've been a rather idiotic thing to do," Tony pointed out before explaining, "Emotions were already running high because of her deception, and we were gearing up to fight Ultron."

"The next morning I had a meeting with Minister Shacklebolt where we discussed my abduction, Ultron and the Avengers' knowledge of wider magic," Hermione said.

"Mrs Rogers requested that - like in New York - witches and wizards come to the aid of the Avengers to fight against Ultron," Kinglsey explained. "With so little information about Ultron's plan available, I had no choice but to refuse. The information about the Avengers was very alarming but I could understand the arguments Mrs Rogers made about the timing not being ideal with Ultron still at large."

"I proposed the creation of a spell that would ensure the Avengers did not talk about wider magic with any other muggles," Hermione said. "I had enchanted a piece of parchment with a similar spell during my fifth year of school. With the understanding that I was responsible for any further breaches the Avengers should make, the Minister gave me forty-eight hours to perfect the spell otherwise the Obliviators would be sent in. Just over twelve hours later, the Avengers were about to head to Sokovia to confront Ultron, but then Mr Malfoy and the Ministry employees arrived at Avengers Tower intent on modifying their memories. As Mr Malfoy didn't have the correct paperwork to hand, I suggested he come back so the spells could be applied in line with magical law. The atmosphere was already tense but Mr Malfoy and the rest of the employees were disturbed by the arrival of a new member of the Avengers – an android known as Vision – and they began casting offensive spells which made the Avengers retaliate. As you can imagine, this was very distressing for me and I didn't know what to do. Unfortunately, my magic acted for me by knocking the Ministry workers to the ground and summoning their wands. It was a completely unintentional act on my part."

"How do we know that?" Draco asked. "How do we know it was unintentional?"

"You were there, Malfoy," Harry reminded him. "You saw the look of shock on her face and you know Hermione wouldn't purposefully attack anyone."

"I _know_ , Potter, that that amount of magic contained inside someone isn't safe," Malfoy replied.

"So you believe what she says about Thanos, do you?" Tony asked.

"I believe that her magic has been unsafely heightened in some fashion," he replied smoothly. "Experimental magic is extremely dangerous and therefore strictly regulated."

"It's not _her_ fault some psycho from across the Galaxy treated her body like nothing more than a machine that needed an upgrade!" Harry argued.

"Well, no, _nothing_ is apparently Mrs Rogers' fault," Draco said sarcastically. "You, Mr Potter, were the first one to break the Statute of Secrecy to a member of the Avengers, and then a muggle who can read minds told the rest! An _alien_ made her capable of extremely powerful and unsafe wandless magic, which meant she _accidentally_ attacked Ministry employees. Do you honestly expect the Confederation to swallow all of that; to believe that Mrs Rogers is innocent of all charges?"

"As unbelievable as it may sound to you and others within this hall, Mr Malfoy, that _is_ what happened," Hermione said firmly.

"That's for the Confederation to decide," Malfoy replied and the two of them gazed heatedly at each other.

"I think we have heard enough," Akingbade announced, breaking their stares. "The prosecution will make their closing statement first."

Malfoy nodded briefly and then took a sip of water to give him time to collect his thoughts. "Witches and wizards of the Confederation, I believe what we have witnessed today has been proof that your trust in the Sorceress program has been abused. Mrs Rogers has selfishly manipulated the Statute of Secrecy so that she doesn't have to keep her personal and professional lives separate. Muggle and magic encounters are not uncommon; plenty of witches and wizards choose to socialise with muggles – some even marry them – but they do so knowing that there are consequences should the Statute be broken. Mrs Rogers failed to properly report both the man who would become her husband, and a group of individuals who are responsible for the utter destruction of a city, because she considers them her friends – even family. But the law mustn't become sentimental, and certainly not towards a group capable of such irresponsibility.

"The Avengers claim that they are trying to keep us safe but, in the last few years, there have been incidents in New York, London, Washington DC, Johannesburg and Sokovia. I highly doubt the suffering will end there. From the sounds of it, the Avengers don't answer to anyone: they just do what they want." He looked at Tony. "You want to create the most advanced robot - capable of independent thought - that the world has ever seen, without checking whether that's a good idea? Sure, why not! It's not _your_ fault the robot misunderstood and destroyed an entire city, is it? You were only trying to _help_ us, after all. Here, let's share with you and your friends everything you want to know about magic! Do you want to know how we learn our spells? What magical creatures do you want to meet? Oh, wait, you're supposed to be a genius, Mr Stark – how about you study magic and put your scientific brain to good use to discover how magic works? No harm could come of that, surely? Your technology has never been used against you, has it? No, hang on, I seem to recall one, two or even half a dozen times when that exact thing _has_ happened. Mr Stark, don't misjudge what I'm saying – I don't believe you to be an evil person who intentionally seeks to leave death and chaos in his wake, I just think that you've never learnt how to stop yourself from giving in to temptation. You're a fool, Mr Stark, and I won't have you make fools of us. I wouldn't trust you to look after my owl, let alone entrust you with any knowledge of magic.

"But that's what Mrs Rogers is going to beg of you all," Draco continued, looking around at the Confederation. "She has spun quite a tale for her defence, I won't deny it. For the moment, let's assume that everything she has told us is true: that there _is_ an evil alien coming to kill us all. I think we would agree that we'd do what we could, within reason, to ensure that this threat is defeated, but that doesn't necessarily mean working with the muggles. From what Mrs Rogers has told us of her 'abduction', these aliens are capable of travelling throughout the galaxy with highly advanced weapons. Muggle space programmes don't even visit the moon anymore. Their technology isn't going to advance enough to put up much of a fight, so there's no reason to deepen the link that Mrs Rogers has established with them. Magical kind have been looking after themselves for hundreds of years and we will continue to do so. But there would be another threat in our midst – Mrs Rogers herself. A witch who is capable of such uncontrolled bursts of magic that she wounded Ministry employees. Objects are broken on a daily basis in Mrs Rogers' cell when she becomes emotional and loses her hold on her magic. Whether you believe it was an alien that give her this power or not, Mrs Rogers is a danger, both to herself and others, and should be monitored closely for the rest of her life.

"I return to the three charges: firstly, attacking members of the British Ministry. As one of those attacked, I can assure you this is true. Mrs Rogers' magic left one Obliviator with a sizeable gash to the head and three others with concussion. Secondly, illegal advancement of magic. You have seen the results of the experimentation for yourself and heard how Mrs Rogers now struggles to control her own magic. Finally, a Grade One breach of the International Statute of Secrecy. The defendant has clearly flaunted this decree daily merely by performing magic in front of muggles who simply believed her to be the 'Sorceress'. But when it comes to Steve Rogers and the Avengers becoming aware of magic worldwide, Mrs Rogers not only failed to report this alarming breach to the appropriate authorities in good time, she has done everything in her power to defy the law and make it work in her favour because she is emotionally attached to the people in question." He sent Hermione one final look. "Nobody is above the law, Mrs Rogers, as, surely, you will soon find out."

A torrent of emotions filled her body in response to Malfoy's statement and she fought hard to stop her magic reacting to the way she was feeling so that she wouldn't prove him right. How Tony had managed to keep his mouth shut during that attack, she didn't know, but he looked very much like he wanted to punch someone.

" _Kick his ass_ ," Tony muttered to her as she prepared to make her own statement, and Harry patted her comfortingly on the back.

This was it. The next few minutes would decide not only her future, but that of the Avengers, Harry, Kingsley and the entire magical world. She glanced once more at the notes she'd made during Malfoy's speech and then began.

"Witches and wizards of the Confederation, the time has come. Today, right here, you will decide the future of the world – both magic and muggle alike. You must be strong. You must have courage. You must be the leaders that your people expect you to be. When he was Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore once told us students that there would be times when we would have to choose between what is _right_ and what is _easy._ This is one of those times. The easy decision would be to close your mind to what is coming, condemn me for an unforeseeable set of circumstances, modify the minds of the Avengers and then forget any of this ever happened. That is a safe decision but, also, the scared decision. We cannot let fear stand in the way of doing what we must.

"Mr Malfoy is ruled by his fear of the unknown and wants you to be like him – to batten down the hatches, stick your fingers in your ears and pretend that the storm isn't coming. But it is: I've seen it. It's not Mr Malfoy's fault. That has been magic's way of survival for centuries. But it won't work much longer. It is very easy for him to stand there criticising and passing judgement on the Avengers. Mr Malfoy doesn't know what it's like to feel the heavy responsibility of mankind's safety on his shoulders. He doesn't know what's it's like to risk your life day after day to protect others. In fact, the only deadly situation I recall Mr Malfoy being present for is the Battle of Hogwarts, seven years ago, where Mr Malfoy and his family switched sides at the last moment. Where, at the climax of the battle, Mr Malfoy did what was _easy_ instead of what was _right_ : he left. He walked away without a backwards glance. He left the fight to others. You may argue that he was still a child at the time but so was _I_ , so was _Harry_ and so were some of those who _fought_ and _died_ to make sure that we would not live under a reign of terror. And that fight still lives on today but in a different way. I am, and always will be, prepared to stand up for it and the same is true of the Avengers.

"But we _cannot_ win this fight apart. We are stronger together. During the six weeks since my arrest, the Avengers have done _nothing_ that would be considered a further breach of the Statute of Secrecy. They have all agreed to sign an enchanted document that will only allow them to speak about magic amongst themselves or another witch or wizard. It uses the secret-keeping solution that Minister Shacklebolt gave me permission to explore and which I have now perfected. It provides a compromise that will protect magical knowledge but also allow us to explore new ways of collaborating to make this world safer for everyone.

"The outburst of magic that injured the British Ministry workers was an unintentional act that was a consequence of experiments on my body ordered by a cruel, genocidal warlord. I am _not_ a dangerous person. My innate magic is more of a problem than it used to be but I am ever one to rise to a challenge. I have firmer control of it every day. Some of you may believe that my actions have shown little respect for the Statute of Secrecy but I have dedicated the last four years of my life to two causes: protecting magic and protecting all the people of this planet. I have constantly lied to people I care about, suffered more injuries than I can recall, been abducted and tortured and experienced great personal losses because I believe in those causes. When Steve Rogers found out about witches and wizards, I had him legitimised and accepted as a muggle liaison and I informed Minister Shacklebolt about the Avengers' awareness so that they could lawfully have that too. My job is to serve the Confederation and the witches and wizards they represent.

"I do not consider myself about the law, Mr Malfoy. I submit myself to it and trust that, as Albus Dumbledore would say, the _right_ decision will be made for us all."

"Thank you, Mrs Rogers and Mr Malfoy, for presenting your cases," Akingbade said. "The Confederation will now vote."

* * *

A/N OK, I know I'm cruel to leave it there but apparently I'm just that mean!

What did you all think about Infinity War? It answered a few of my questions regarding the direction of this series and then left me with a dozen more questions! Sigh. Anyway, I really enjoyed it (apart from a few sad bits, obviously) but I'm also in major denial about that ending. There's no way that's going to stick, right? RIGHT?!

Let me know what you thought of the chapter. Lots of you were hating on Draco last time and I anticipate that hasn't changed!

Lil Drop of Magic


	3. Chapter 3

A/N Hello, lovely people! Thanks for your support, as always.

* * *

Steve had lost count of how many circuits he'd done of the different exercises he'd set up for himself in the makeshift gym. Looking out of the window to gauge the passage of time wouldn't make things any clearer either; it had been dark when he'd started and it was still dark now. He didn't know where in the world the Confederation were meeting except that it had a drastically different time zone to New York. He knew there was no way that he was going to be able to sleep while Hermione's fate was being decided so he'd attempted to distract himself with the endless workout.

It hadn't worked.

He tried to force himself to think positively and hope for a not-guilty verdict, but his mind kept throwing unpleasant scenarios at him where Hermione was moved to a maximum security prison where he wasn't allowed to see her, the Avengers' memories were altered so badly they couldn't operate anymore and then Thanos turned up to wipe them all out!

Unable to suppress his anguish, he threw the extra heavy medicine ball across the room, leaving a dent in the flooring. He grabbed a bottle of water and slumped against the wall. The hearing should be over soon, shouldn't it? Hermione had told him that these things weren't like in the muggle world where trials could last for weeks. Apparently, witches and wizards got things over and done with quickly, sentencing and everything.

Steve wasn't allowed to attend the proceedings because the Confederation had decreed that, due to the sensitivity of the matter, utmost secrecy was needed and the hearing was to be a closed one. Only members of the Confederation and witnesses were allowed inside and only very few other people even knew that it was happening. Hermione had never seriously entertained the idea of Steve being a witness – not because she didn't think he'd do a good job, but because the fact that he was now her husband meant that the Confederation would believe his testimony to be highly biased. So, unable to attend, he had based himself around the corner from MACUSA's headquarters in the Woolworth Building so that he could get news of the outcome as soon as possible. Harry had promised he'd come straight to him when a verdict – good or bad – had been reached.

Steve closed his eyes and spent a few minutes just praying for his wife.

 _His wife_.

That term still felt strange even though it had been a long time coming. Hermione was actually his _wife_ – he had a copy of the marriage certificate and everything – it was all official. Well, apart from the very final step, but they hadn't really had the opportunity… Nonetheless, he didn't have any regrets about going through with their rushed ceremony and he was certain he'd feel the same whatever news Harry had to bring him.

Realising that he'd created a small puddle of sweat on the floor around him, Steve decided a powerful shower was needed to blast the grime from his body and, hopefully, the negativity from his mind. He washed quickly but vigorously in the bathroom; anxious that he not be busy when Harry arrived. He'd just changed into some clean clothes when there was a brisk knock on the door. Despite his racing heart, everything else seemed to slow down as he made the short journey to close his fingers around the handle. After a final, steadying breath, he jerked open the door.

His brain barely had time to process Hermione standing in front of him before she had jumped up and wrapped her arms and legs around his body with an excited squeal. Steve staggered backwards

and let out a bark of laughter in astonishment.

"I can't believe it," he gasped as Hermione lifted her head from his shoulder and beamed at him. He lifted a hand to her face, eager to be sure that this was real.

"You didn't have unswerving faith that I would win?" she asked teasingly, giving him all the confirmation he needed that his Hermione was really there in his arms. She touched her lips to the inside of his wrist and then started showering his whole face with kisses, making him laugh again. When she finally joined her lips to his, his kissed her back enthusiastically. His own feelings of joy and contentment were almost unfamiliar to him since it had been nearly two years since he'd last experienced them, but when Hermione's emotions were added on top of that, he was almost overwhelmed with exhilaration!

"Ugh, damn it, Potter! I told you we should've given them more time," a familiar voice said from the open doorway. "I did _not_ want to see this."

"Stop staring at them then!"

"Unfortunately, it seems to be one of those truly horrific situations where I physically can't make myself look away..."

"Pervert."

Hermione broke the kiss and simply rested her forehead against Steve's momentarily as he tried to come down from his Hermione-induced high.

"Maybe you want your memories wiped after all?" he heard her say as she climbed down from his body. He immediately regretted the loss of contact and opened his eyes so he could still see her. He took in Harry and Tony standing by the door, amused and disturbed expressions on their respective faces.

"No, thanks," Tony replied lightly but then he raised an eyebrow as he took in Steve's appearance. " _OK_ , those are possibly the most dilated pupils I've ever seen – and I spent the nineties partying in Europe!"

Steve's brain was finally catching up with some of the earlier comments. "You're not getting your memories changed?"

Tony frowned. "That wasn't the first thing you asked about?" he asked in disbelief. "What sort of a leader doesn't care about the fate of his troops?!"

"To be fair, we haven't really said _anything_ ," Hermione admitted with a shrug and Harry snorted.

"God, you're like a pair of horny teenagers," Tony muttered and then looked disapprovingly at Steve. "No, Cap, thanks for your touching concern but we're _not_ getting our memories wiped."

"Luckily, the Confederation approved the Avengers' knowledge of magic as long as they signed my new secret-securing document. If we didn't have that there's no way they would have agreed after Malfoy was crazy enough to call Tony in as a witness."

Steve gaped at Tony. "You were at the proceedings?"

"I thought I'd check them out," Tony replied simply, punching a quick message into his cell phone. "I knew that piece of shit, Malfoy, was going to try and make me look like an idiot so I wanted to prove him wrong – _and_ if I was going to be forced to forget it all, I thought I'd see as much of magic's inner workings as possible."

"So you didn't come to support me, then?" Hermione asked dryly.

"Sure, I suppose," Tony answered, not very convincingly as he became distracted by something else on his phone. "It was pretty much all your fault anyway."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Well, it's a good thing the Confederation didn't agree with you on that point!" Tony made an unintelligible noise in response as he vigorously typed into his phone. Hermione shook her head and turned to Steve. "I was easily cleared of advancing my magic and attacking the Ministry employees but the Statute vote was a lot closer," she informed Steve. "After that, Malfoy called for a vote on Harry's complicity but the Confederation found him innocent too."

"I expect that pleased Malfoy to no end," Steve said wryly. He'd only ever seen the blond wizard twice but he'd heard enough about him from both Harry and Hermione to severely dislike the man.

"Oh, yes," Harry agreed. "He saw fit to tell me that we only got away with it because of our reputations – which was pretty rich, coming from him!"

Hermione let out a small noise of disgust. "At least _you_ don't have to work with him."

Steve looked at her with surprise. "You're kidding!"

She shook her head. "Akingbade ordered Malfoy and I to work together on having the Avengers and the secret-securer written legally into international magical law. I think it was done to appease Malfoy that it would all be done lawfully. I'm going to have to meet with him regularly over the next few weeks and he'll be present for each signing of the document."

Tony glanced up from his phone. "Does that mean _I've_ got to see him again?"

"Yes," Hermione confirmed.

"Great," Tony muttered sarcastically but then he brightened slightly. "After I've signed it, can I punch him?"

"As much as I would love to pass on the tradition and let someone else hit Malfoy in the face, it's probably better for muggle-magical relations if you don't," she answered.

This fully got Tony's attention and he gaped at her. "I'm sorry – _what?!_ "

Even Steve was rather surprised at the revelation but Hermione shrugged. "It happened ages ago while we were at school. It was no big deal."

Harry shook his head in disagreement. "It was _amazing_ ; she full-on thumped him across the face. It's actually one of my favourite childhood memories," he admitted with a grin.

Hermione attempted to look disapproving but her face dissolved into a smirk. "Mine too."

They spent the next few minutes filling Steve in on the few other details they were allowed to share

with him about the hearing and its outcome. Hermione had been given permission to explore ways of developing magical defences with Tony that could be used if there was an alien attack but they were required to give regular updates to the Confederation of their progress. She had also sought permission to reveal further details of magic (but obviously only those that were strictly necessary) to Sam when she started her therapy sessions with him. Apparently, it had taken a lot of emotive arguing on her side and a promise that Sam's secret-securing document be watertight but this had been approved too. A landmark decision had also been reached that, should Thanos arrive and the situation be dire enough, magic would reveal itself to the world in order to save it.

However, further magic users were not permitted to get involved in muggle affairs, which meant that if something like Ultron arose again, Harry would not be allowed to assist. Hermione was also reminded of the trust the Confederation had put in her and their expectations that she do her job to the very best of her ability.

"Because apparently you don't do that already," Harry commented sarcastically but Hermione shook her head.

"Unless you're actually in my position, you don't know what it's like," she defended from where she was slotted comfortably into Steve's side. "I couldn't really have asked for anything more from them."

Tony's phone let off about five different notification alerts at once and Hermione laughed. "You've barely been off that thing since we stepped out of MACUSA!"

Tony shrugged without taking his eyes away from the screen. "Well, that's what happens when someone as important as I am has no cell phone reception for a few hours." He inputted something into the screen and then slipped the device into his suit pocket, holding his hands up innocently. "There. Done." He clapped his hands together then pointed out of the door. "Let's go celebrate."

Hermione shook her head. "Tony, it's gone four in the morning here!"

"What's your point?" he asked. "You know this is the city that never sleeps, right?" At her continued sceptical look he said, "Look, I know this city. Trust me; I'll find us somewhere you'll love…"

Unsurprisingly, Tony had already somehow managed to have a car waiting outside for them. After a relatively short journey, Steve couldn't have been more surprised to see the type of building they stopped at.

"A _church?!_ " he asked, looking quizzically between Tony and the small, brick building that was dwarfed by the downtown skyscrapers that surrounded it. "Has it been tastelessly converted into some after-hours speakeasy?"

Tony adopted a wounded expression. "Do you really think I'd take you somewhere like that?"

Harry shrugged. "Colour me intrigued," he said, walking towards the church.

"Come on," Tony said, nodding his head to show that Steve and Hermione should follow Harry's lead. "Don't you two trust me?"

Hermione sighed. "Well…"

"Ouch," Tony muttered, wincing and holding a hand dramatically over his heart, "that hurt."

Steve shook his head slightly at his antics. "All right, we'll go." Hermione laced her fingers through his and together they followed Tony up the small flight of steps.

He didn't know what to expect on the other side of the doors but Steve certainly didn't anticipate seeing their closest friends waiting for them. And, judging by the shocked expression on her face, neither did Hermione.

"What are you all doing here?" she asked their grinning faces as they offered their congratulations and warm words at her success. Her already wide eyes stretched even further as she took in Natasha. "Wait – I know that dress!" It was only then that Steve noticed that everyone was dressed rather formally…

He glanced over at Tony, who was looking very pleased with himself. "What is this?"

"Part two of your wedding," Tony replied simply. "Look, I know I did a more than satisfactory job last time but we thought you guys deserved an upgrade without the threat of incarceration hanging over your heads."

Hermione shook her head in amazement. "This is crazy," she murmured. "I can't believe you've done this at all, let alone in the thirty minutes since we've been here."

"There was a fair amount of optimistic planning involved," Natasha revealed. "You don't think these guys can scrub up so well at such short notice, do you?" she asked, nodding at the suit-wearing Clint and Thor.

"Yeah, like _you_ haven't been getting ready since midnight," Clint retorted.

Harry came back into view, now suited in the same theme as the others.

"You knew about this?" Steve accused.

"Of course," Harry replied. "They needed an approximation of how long the trial would last – and I have to say I'm pretty impressed that I was only twenty minutes out."

"Yeah, that's so impressive compared to orchestrating a wedding that might not even happen from halfway around the world," Tony mocked.

"Why don't you go get changed before I pick you out some clothes of my own choice," Harry suggested innocently, twirling his wand between his fingers.

"And _you_ need to come with me," Natasha said, grabbing Hermione's hand. "I found you the perfect dress."

"Wait," Steve called, "You actually got someone to give us a kind of blessing?"

"Of course," Tony replied. "Father Andrew's an old friend who owes me a favour. He should be here any minute."

"How many of our team have priests who owe them favours?" Hermione asked suspiciously before Natasha gave her another tug and whisked her away to change.

"This is extremely thoughtful of you," Steve said to Tony once they were both suited up.

"It's been a tough time for everyone lately," he replied, "We all need a boost before we get back to business tomorrow – you know your wife has already told me three new initiatives she has for Stranger Enterprises since the trial ended? She was already sending almost daily letters about what the company should be doing for the relief effort in Sokovia."

"That doesn't surprise me," Steve admitted as they headed up the candle-lined aisle towards the altar.

"Besides," Tony said with a small shrug, "I _know_ you. It wouldn't feel right to you unless you got the stamp of approval from the Big G up there," he explained, pointing skywards.

"Still with the jokes even inside God's house, Anthony?" an elderly voice said behind them and a figure, which had to be Father Andrew, stepped into the flickering candlelight.

"I like to think that God has a sense of humour, Father," Tony responded easily, "He'd have to with the way things are going in the world right now."

Steve introduced himself to the priest and confirmed the rather rushed, but perfectly legal, ceremony that had taken place six weeks ago.

"And Anthony tells me that you both attended pre-marriage classes beforehand," Father Andrew said.

"Yes, that was leading up to our original wedding date in October 2013," Steve replied.

"It sounds like you've had a lot of obstacles in your way," Father Andrew commented.

"You could say that," he agreed. "Thank you so much for agreeing to do this, Father."

"It is not often that a day can begin with such a celebration of love," he said, "so it is my pleasure to be involved."

Sweet string music started emanating from somewhere and the male members of the wedding party took their places.

The only light in the church came from the candles that lined the aisles and pews but it created a beautiful atmosphere.

Natasha walked towards them, finally able to wear the sweeping, green bridesmaid's dress Hermione had picked out for her so long ago. As she reached Steve, Natasha kissed him fondly on the cheek and they all looked back again.

Steve wasn't at all nervous – they were already married, after all – but he experienced a great swell of emotion as Hermione emerged into the light, her arm linked through Harry's. The dress Natasha had picked enhanced her delicate features but this only added to the beauty of the supreme inner strength of the woman who wanted to join her life to his.

Harry kissed Hermione's cheek and then shook Steve's hand before the bride and groom came together with entwined fingers.

"You look beautiful," he whispered lowly to her and she smiled gently at him.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she replied, eyes bright.

It was a simple service. After a welcome from Father Andrew, Clint read a series of passages from the Bible about love and Steve let the words enrich his heart and soul. Father Andrew then reflected on the various scriptures they had heard and Steve was very impressed with how apt and personal his comments were despite the hour and the fact he had never met either of them before. Once Hermione and Steve had confidently recited their vows and their already exchanged rings had been blessed, Father Andrew announced that they were – still – husband and wife. The enjoyment factor was much higher this time as Steve kissed her sweetly, and he could feel her wave of contentment as the others applauded.

Then, before the final Nuptial Blessing, their friends stepped forwards to read a poem.

"It's called, _The One_ ," Natasha announced, before clearing her throat. She, Tony, Clint, Thor and Harry read two lines each before saying the last two together.

" _When the one whose hand you're holding,_

 _Is the one who holds your heart_

 _When the one whose eyes you gaze into_

 _Gives your hopes and dreams their start,_

 _When the one you think of first and last_

 _Is the one who holds you tight,_

 _And the things you plan together_

 _Make the whole world seem just right,_

 _When the one whom you believe in_

 _Puts their faith and trust in you,_

 _You've found the one and only love_

 _You'll share your whole life through..."_

* * *

A/N: Short(ish) but sweet, right? I did originally have the next part of the story tagged onto the end of this but I felt like this had to stand on its own. It was about time that there was some Steve/Hermione fluff without imminent danger, right?

Let me know if you liked it!

Lil Drop of Magic

PS I couldn't find an author for the poem, 'The One', but I thought it summed up their relationship beautifully! 3


	4. Chapter 4

A/N Hello everyone! I know it's been forever-and-a-day since I updated. Sorry about that! Thanks for all the love and gentle nudging to remind me I needed to post the next chapter.

I have borrowed some dialogue from Ant-Man in this chapter.

* * *

"What do you mean there's been a break-in?" Hermione asked, fixing Sam with a hard look. She'd only been home for five minutes after a series of meetings in Sokovia to inspect how Stranger Enterprises' money was making improvements to people's lives there. She'd been looking forward to writing up the reports of what she'd observed just so she could sit in one place for a few hours but that didn't look like it was going to happen now.

Sam held out a tablet with the footage from a few hours ago. "I'll admit it wasn't my finest hour," he murmured while Hermione watched in quiet fascination as a figure in a tiny mysterious black and red suit suddenly grew to normal size and popped open his helmet.

"Hi, I'm Scott," the intruder announced amiably with a wave of his hand.

"What are you doing here?" she heard Sam ask.

"First off, I'm a big fan," Scott announced.

"Appreciate it," Sam replied, "So, who the hell are you?"

"I'm Ant-Man."

"Ant-Man?" Sam repeated, obviously unimpressed.

"What? You haven't heard of me?" Scott said and then shook his head. "No, you wouldn't have heard of me."

"You want to tell me what you want?" Sam asked, clearly getting impatient.

"I was hoping I could grab a piece of technology," Scott admitted. "Just for a few days. I'm gonna return it. I need it to save the world. You know how that is."

"I know exactly how that is," Sam agreed, stepping forward and talking to comms, "Located the breach, bringing him in." And that's when things escalated. After a quick apology, the Ant-Man replaced his helmet and then used his suit to shrink down to a miniature size again.

"Yeah, this definitely wasn't your best work," Hermione agreed as she watched Sam get beaten up by someone that was so small they looked invisible.

"Hey, when he's tiny like that, he's super strong," Sam explained defensively. At these words, Hermione's expression became very thoughtful. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly, not even watching properly as Sam's flight pack broke down thanks to the Ant-Man's meddling. "I think I've read…" She trailed off and stood abruptly from the couch, eager to go to the main facility.

"What, am I supposed to wait here until you come back, Mi?" he called after her.

It had been eight weeks since the rather extraordinary day that had included her trial, her second wedding ceremony and her arrival at her latest home in the new Avengers Facility in Upstate New York. She still got goosebumps when she recalled how their loving ceremony had ended just as the sun was rising over the city. The small group had walked through Battery Park to watch the sunlight turn the water to gold as they all started the next chapter in their lives. Harry had managed to discretely take photos throughout the whole event and both the still and moving photos filled her heart with joy whenever she looked at them. A few of their favourite images now hung in their new apartment within the residential part of the facility. There were rooms enough for all the Avengers that might need one – Natasha, Sam, Tony, Thor, Wanda and even Vision (though she doubted he really used it) but Tony had been kind enough to accommodate Steve and Hermione with some extra room and privacy as a newly married couple. Hermione appreciated every little way that Steve had tried to make their apartment feel like a home by filling it with items that belonged to them as individuals and memories that they shared together. She couldn't help but smile at the memory of when Steve had carried her over the threshold and how they had only parted each other's company many hours later.

Thor had returned to Asgard a few days later when Hermione and Draco had gotten the legal paperwork in place that would approve the Avenger's knowledge of wider magic and her secret-securing document was ready for the signatories. If Hermione hadn't been so anxious that everything run smoothly with the first procedure, she would have found Draco's obvious intimidation by Thor highly amusing. Fortunately, everything went without a hitch and Thor was free to leave with Hermione's utmost gratitude for staying on Earth long enough for magical kind to see that he was trustworthy and co-operative.

"It was my pleasure to help a friend in need, Hermione," he had replied.

"But you've been on Earth for months!" she pointed out.

"Allay your concerns," he told her reassuringly, "Your mortal days pass in a blink of an eye for someone who lives as long as I."

"Oh, OK," she replied, a little taken aback.

"You and Steve must come and visit Asgard sometime soon," he proposed. "Like, what is it called, a honeymoon?"

Hermione opened her mouth in surprise. "Oh, wow, that's incredibly generous of you to offer. I, I don't know, I would have to talk to Steve and, well, the next few weeks are looking very hectic so we'll have to see if we can spare some time."

"Though I don't want to add to your workload, perhaps it would feel less like a trip of leisure if you spoke to my fellow Asgardians about what you know of Thanos and the Infinity Stones while you are there," Thor suggested. "I know how dangerous you consider his threat to be."

That had very much swung the decision towards the affirmative. She knew Earth would need all the support it could get in the battle against Thanos so to get the Asgardians and, potentially, the rest of the Nine Realms onside would be a great boost for them – especially if they lent a hand with technology.

Currently, she and Tony were doing their best on that front and she had spent many hours describing everything science-related she had observed during her months in space. She could tell that her information was not as helpful as he'd want but she just didn't quite have the brain for science that he did and nor did they have the same materials to hand. Somewhat more successful were their initial undertakings in developing magical products. Although Hermione claimed to have been working with Tony on this for years, she'd always been more focused on stopping him from finding out anything. But once Tony had signed the document and she'd gotten over her initial unfamiliarity with the situation, they'd begun to make good progress. They had already developed a way of housing a protective charm within objects that could erect a magical barrier when activated and were in the process of strengthening the magic so that the shield would stand up to more powerful attacks.

In the little spare time when she wasn't working with Tony, ensuring the Avengers' magical paperwork was in order or keeping an eye on the relief work in Sokovia, Hermione had been helping Natasha and Steve train up their latest recruits – particularly Wanda, who was learning to control her magic well with Hermione's assistance. She left teaching the operational and tactical side of things to the other two, which was the reason the facility was currently a bit deserted; Steve, Natasha, Wanda and Vision were on a simulated mission in Colorado.

Unfortunately, with the arrival of his new baby son, Nathaniel Pietro Barton, Clint had decided to hang up his bow in retirement. It was a hard blow to take but Hermione completely understood his decision to spend more time with his family. She'd popped out to visit the Bartons a few times, occasionally bringing Steve so that they could enjoy dinner with Clint and Laura. And, while she never said no to a cuddle with Nathaniel, Hermione was always perfectly happy to give him back - reinforcing her relief that she and Steve had put any future family of their own on hold indefinitely.

There had also been no word from Bruce. As heart-breaking as this was (particularly for Natasha), Hermione remained optimistic that no news of Bruce, was actually good news, because it could mean that he had found a way to live without turning into the Other Guy for the time being.

Her own journey to a healthier state of mind was an unpredictable one. Sometimes there would be a run of a few days at a time when she would feel confident and contented with her life. However, this mood could be changed in an instant by a flashback or trick of her mind when she saw Thanos in her peripheral vision. Other times she could just sense a bout of depression looming over her like a cloud. Sam reassured her that this was normal, that it was alright to admit to others and herself when she didn't feel good or wanted to cry. She felt very fortunate to be able to talk to Sam so often and was grateful that he did everything he could to support her – even doing some extra studying of psychology and therapy to inform his advice. They hadn't talked in full about her experiences on Sanctuary yet as the trust between them was still being developed, but she felt like she was close to sharing that burden.

"So, what have you found?" Sam asked, coming to stand over her shoulder as she read through some old S.H.I.E.L.D files she'd unearthed from storage.

"Since I've been released, I've been going through some old S.H.I.E.L.D files each night to check that there aren't any nasty secrets from their history that we might have missed," Hermione explained. "A while ago I came across a mostly-redacted document about a particle that could shorten the distance between an object's molecules, meaning that it would decrease in size but still keep its mass."

"Which would explain how the little guy was so strong," Sam said, nodding with understanding. "So this is some old S.H.I.E.L.D tech?"

"Possibly," she allowed with a frown. "I haven't been able to find out much more except that it was called the 'Pym Particle'. There was a scientist called Hank Pym who worked at S.H.I.E.L.D for many years until 1989 when he left to launch his own company; Pym Technologies. All the information on Hank Pym's time with S.H.I.E.L.D has been redacted too, which is a little unusual."

"Let me guess," Sam said knowingly, "You want to go talk to the guy."

"Ignoring the already troubling fact that someone successfully broke into our compound, there either _is_ a threat to the world, or there's a crazy person running around with an incredibly technologically-advanced suit," she pointed out. "So, yes, I'm going to go to San Francisco and talk to Hank Pym."

* * *

"Can I help you?" a relatively small grey-haired man asked brusquely as he answered the front door of the impressive old house.

"Dr Pym?" Hermione enquired politely and the man nodded shortly. She reached into her pocket and held out a card for his inspection. "My name is Hermione Rogers and I'm associated with the Avengers Initiative. I know it's quite late but I was wondering if I could talk to you for a few minutes."

Pym frowned at the identification card. "What is this about?"

"Perhaps it would be better if we talked about this inside," she suggested.

"No, I don't – " Hank began to say, shaking his head, but Hermione interrupted him.

"I'm afraid I really must insist."

Pym stared at her irritably for a moment and then stood aside to hold the door open. "Come in," he muttered.

"What's going on?" a female voice called and Hermione saw a slender woman a few years older than herself walk into the hallway. "Who are you?"

Hermione repeated her introduction and showed the woman her card.

"My daughter, Hope," Pym explained.

Hope showed a little surprise as she turned Hermione's card in her hands. "Avengers," she repeated softly. "What on earth are you doing _here_?"

Hermione glanced at Hank but he waved a hand dismissively. "Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Hope," he said.

Hermione nodded. "A few hours ago, an Avengers facility received an uninvited visitor." She tapped an electronic device on her wrist and projected an image of the Ant-Man from the security footage. She tapped the device again and the projection became animated, showing Scott shrink down to miniature form. "I'd like to ask how you think he was capable of reducing his size like that."

"You think _I_ had something do with this?" Hank asked accusatorially.

Taken aback by his grumpy demeanour, Hermione held up a placating hand. "Not necessarily, Dr Pym. I am merely trying to find the person responsible and you cannot deny that your work with S.H.I.E.L.D was along similar lines."

"I haven't spoken with anyone relating to S.H.I.E.L.D for twenty-six years," he pointed out.

"Is there any way the intruder may have gotten access to your work and used it for their own benefit?" Hermione asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm foolish enough to leave dangerous scientific papers lying around?"

"What about your electronic devices?" she queried, becoming irritated that he took everything she said to be some sort of insult. "Are they well secured against hackers?"

"Extremely," he replied shortly.

"Then what would your explanation be for what occurred a few hours ago?" Hermione pressed.

"Advances in technology happen all the time," Hope said simply. "Someone else was always going to figure it out eventually."

"I see," Hermione murmured. "Dr Pym, you understand this technology better than anyone. How worrying is it that someone is going around using this tech unsupervised?"

Hank gave her a cold look. "You really think that someone associated with the Avengers is qualified to ask that after Sokovia?"

Hermione felt her cheeks flush but she maintained eye contact. "Please answer the question, Dr Pym."

He made an exasperated noise. "Without knowing the person inside the suit, I really couldn't tell you. That technology could be used for good, it could be used for bad; it depends on the conscience of the wearer."

"And neither of you have any idea who it could be?" Hermione asked.

"No idea," Hank answered as Hope shook her head.

The front door burst open behind them as a familiar voice called out, "Hey guys, I'm back! Oh." The man stopped short at seeing Hermione there. "Er, hi."

Hermione held out her hand with a wry smile. "Scott, I presume?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?" he replied easily, shaking her hand, while Hope closed her eyes with a sigh of despair and Hank looked like he'd bitten into a particularly sour lemon.

"We were just talking about you," Hermione revealed.

"Oh, yeah?" Scott said with a grin, then, seeing the unhappy expressions on the faces of his collaborators, the smile dropped from his face. "And you are?"

"I'm Hermione Rogers, and I work as part of the Avengers Initiative."

" _Oh_ ," Scott said delicately as the colour also drained from his face. "I see."

Hank sighed noisily and walked off, muttering about needing a drink. Hope nodded, turning to follow him. "I think that would be best all round," she agreed.

"So, are you here to arrest me?" Scott asked as they followed the others to the kitchen. "Is there like an Avengers' jail?"

"I'm not here to arrest you," Hermione replied, "although you did cause a lot of damage to a very expensive flight pack."

"I did apologise for that at the time," Scott pointed out. He held his hand out for a glass of whatever alcohol Hank was drinking but was disappointed to receive a simple glass of water and a scowl instead.

"At the moment, I'm more concerned with what you said about the world needing to be saved," Hermione told him.

Scott perked up slightly at this news. "Right, OK, well…" he looked over at Hank hopefully.

" _No_ ," Pym said forcefully.

"Come on, Hank, I told you to get the Avengers involved from the start," Scott argued. "They can help us stop Cross!"

"Cross?" Hermione repeated, " _Darren_ Cross? The current CEO of Pym Technologies?"

Hank looked very much like he wanted to punch Scott but that didn't stop him.

"Cross has managed to develop the tech himself," Scott admitted quietly and Hank walked out of the kitchen furiously.

"Dr Pym," Hermione called, following him but the pair of them stopped short at the sight of a man stood casually reading a folder in Hank's front room.

"Darren," Hank said loudly and Hermione moved forwards slightly so that the door to the kitchen could swing shut behind her to stop the others from being seen. "How the hell did you get in here?"

Cross looked somewhat amused. "You left the front door open, Hank. It's official; you're old."

"Dr Cross, what a perfectly brilliant coincidence," Hermione said warmly, thinking quickly as she walked towards him and introduced herself. "I'm here on behalf of Stranger Enterprises. We're a relatively new company so I doubt you would have heard of us, but one of our co-founders is Tony Stark."

Cross's previously hesitant expression suddenly became much more interested. "Really?"

"Yes, here," she said, holding out a different business card to the one she'd shared with the others earlier. "We heard about your exciting new venture and Tony sent me to investigate so, as you can see, I've started right back at the beginning," she explained motioning to Hank, whose mouth looked even more lined than before.

"Well, I doubt you got much out of this one," Cross joked, nodding at Hank.

"No, but Tony can be the same sometimes," Hermione allowed. "Not that I can understand what he's talking about half the time. I think he only gave me the job as a favour to my husband."

"Your husband?" Cross asked.

"Steve," Hermione replied, "Steve Rogers."

Cross looked at her in amazement. " _Steve Rogers?_ You – you're married to Captain America?!" Hermione nodded and gave him her most vapid smile. "Well, that's… most interesting," he murmured.

"Dr Cross," she began but he interrupted her.

"Darren, please."

"Darren, I wonder if you'd be willing to join me for a drink so we can discuss your work," she proposed.

"I would love to, believe me," he answered cordially, "but I'm afraid I simply don't have the time with the launch tomorrow. That's what I came here to talk to Hank about." He turned to Hank, who looked back emotionlessly. "I have good news. Pym Tech, the company you created, is about to become one of the most profitable operations in the world. We're anticipating fifteen billion in sales tomorrow alone."

Hank said nothing.

"Darren, that's incredible," Hermione gushed, "Congratulations!"

He nodded his thanks to her before turning back to Hank. "I know this is odd, but I'd like you to be there. This is my moment, I want you to see it."

"Sure, Darren," Hank said quietly, "Yeah, sure, I'll be there."

Smiling, Darren turned to Hermione. "And you're welcome too, of course, as long as you don't steal any ideas to take back to Stark!"

Hermione laughed. "Oh, there's no danger of that, believe me!"

"Great, I'll have your name added to the list," he told her.

"Thank you." There was a slight pause and Hermione realised there didn't appear to be a practical reason for her to stay any longer without making Darren rather suspicious. She turned to Hank. "And thank you, Dr Pym, for giving up your time to talk to me. I guess I'll see you both tomorrow."

They both bade her goodnight and then she stepped outside the house and walked away far enough to convince Darren if he was watching, before doubling back and covertly making her way into Pym's back garden. She heard the front door close and then let herself through the kitchen door where Scott and Hope were waiting a little anxiously.

Scott turned to her, impressed. "You're good at thinking on your feet," he said, "All that 'Stranger Enterprises' stuff and being married to Captain America. I think you really threw him off." Hermione raised an eyebrow at him and raised her left hand as Hank walked into the room. "Wait – you were telling the truth?!" Scott exclaimed. "Holy crap! That is so awesome!"

"Stranger Enterprises?" Hope asked.

"It's a legitimate company," Hermione replied, "But Steve didn't have anything to do with it; Tony and I founded it together."

"There's more to you than meets the eye, huh?" Hank murmured. "But if you think for one moment that I'm letting Stark even get a _glimpse_ of this tech then you're out of your mind."

"I'm not here to steal the technology," she said firmly. "I came here to investigate a break in and discover if there truly was a threat against the world. If you – " but Hermione was cut off from saying anything else because Hope's phone started ringing and everyone suddenly grew very tense.

"Darren, hi," Hope greeted as she answered the call, and Hermione was surprised at the caller's identity.

" _Hope, where are you right now?"_ they heard Cross ask.

"I'm at home," Hope replied, pacing up and down the kitchen. "Why?"

" _I just saw Hank. I still get nothing but contempt from him._ "

"Don't let him rile you up," she advised, "He's just a senile old man."

Hank looked a little offended at this comment but Scott made a reassuring face.

" _We need to start everyone working around the clock,"_ Cross told her, making Hope rub her eyes worriedly and Hermione realised that Hope worked for Cross. _"Get the assembly line up and running. And I'm tripling security: full sensors at all entrances and exterior air vents fitted with steel micro-mesh."_

"Great," Hope said, "Good idea."

" _Thank you, Hope. I'm so lucky to have you on my team."_

Their conversation ended and Hope sighed loudly.

"He knows," she said with certainty. "We have to call it off."

"We're all taking risks," Hank said evenly.

"He's tripling security, he's lost his mind and he's on to you," she argued.

"But he is not on to you," Hank pointed out.

Hope shook her head. "With all the added security measures – the body scanners and sealing of vents – I don't see how we can get Scott in now!"

"I could do it," Hermione suggested and Hank turned disbelieving eyes on her.

" _Really?_ Have you ever seen inside Pym Tech or studied the security measures? You don't even know what our objective is!"

"I understand, but – "

Scott cut across her. "Guys, I've got it: the water main. You can't add security to a water main, the pressure's too strong. But if we decrease it, that's how I get in."

"Somebody would have to reach the building's control centre to change the water pressure," Hope said. "I mean, Hank, Hermione and I will be beside Cross, how are we supposed to do that?"

"So we expand our team," Scott suggested. "What do we need? A fake security guard on the inside to depressurize the water system, somebody else to hack into the power supply and kill the laser grid, and a getaway guy."

"No, no," Hank said, comprehension dawning in his eyes. "No, no, no. Not those three wombats. No way."

"Well, it's either that or we get Hermione to phone the Avengers," Scott said, before looking at her expectantly. "Right?"

"We probably don't even – "

"Fine, let's get a look at the wombats," Hank muttered. "The Avengers are probably too busy dropping cities from the sky."

Hermione pursed her lips. She wasn't particularly offended by Pym's comment but she was getting quite frustrated that none of them were listening to her. She didn't know exactly what their heist involved but she had enough confidence in her own abilities to feel secure that she'd probably be able to pull it off single-handed. She hadn't planned on telling Dr Pym that she was the Sorceress but she hadn't expected to rather stumble onto this situation either. If Cross was selling those powerful suits to whoever wanted them, there would be chaos across the globe and not a lot the Avengers could do to track the wearers down. The problem was she couldn't just go around destroying a company's product because she didn't like its potential danger – not in the post-Sokovia era where many were calling for the Avengers to be held more accountable.

"We probably won't need your help," Scott said, almost apologetically, "but do you have any skills of your own should things get a little hairy?"

Hermione shrugged. "I can hold my own," she admitted modestly, "I used to be a S.H.I.E.L.D agent."

Hank made a disparaging noise but Scott looked impressed. " _Cool_."

* * *

Darren greeted her with a wide smile when Hermione entered Pym Tech the following evening.

"Mrs Rogers," he murmured, kissing her cheek. "I am delighted to have you here."

"I'm honoured to be here," she replied, beaming at him. "It certainly feels like a special event with all this security," she commented, nodding at the body scanners she'd just had to walk through and all the armed guards. "You're not expecting any trouble, are you?"

"Always," he answered smoothly, escorting her further into the building. "Here, let me introduce my assistant, Hope. You met her father last night." Both women perfected acting as though they had never met.

"Let me show you around," Hope offered courteously.

"Oh, thank you, that would be wonderful," Hermione gushingly replied, continuing to do her best to sound as empty-headed as possible to downplay any suspicions Cross might have about her. They spent a few minutes exploring the ground level so Darren could discretely observe them before Hope took her up some stairs.

"What's this room?" Hermione asked as they approached a series of large glass panels, even though she was completely aware of the answer.

"Oh, nothing more than the servers," Hope answered.

"Ladies," the security guard greeted with a mischievous smile and twitch of his eyebrows as Hope slid her security pass through the lock.

"Luis," Hermione murmured back, and he stood even straighter, determined to look the part.

Luis was one of the three 'wombats' that Hank had been so reluctant to collaborate with. In truth, they were low-level criminal associates of Scott's. Wombat #2, Kurt, was their computer hacker and #3, Dave, their getaway driver. Hank's disdain for them hadn't exactly decreased over the last few hours but the three men had strongly reminded her of the Guardians and she felt strangely comfortable in their presence. However, she was really quite glad that she hadn't revealed her Sorceress identity because Luis, in particular, had a tendency to get over excited.

She'd also learnt a lot more about Scott and his past. He'd surely done some very stupid things, (such as hacking millions of dollars from the allegedly corrupt company, Vistacorp, to give it back to their customers), mostly for the right reasons, but had been punished for them. She felt particularly bad that he wasn't able to see his daughter, Cassie, after his recent release from prison.

Hank and Hope's relationship was very tense and Scott warned her to keep out of it because the father and daughter were currently in the process of rebuilding it.

"So, as you can see, it's just servers," Hope said as they walked into the room. They walked between the machines as Hope retrieved a device from her pocket.

The device had been the reason behind Scott's break in at the Avengers facility and he'd looked a little guilty when he'd pulled it out of his pocket last night. However, he was reassured when Hermione said that she didn't care about the theft so long as they stopped Darren Cross releasing his suits into the world.

Hope pulled out a specific drawer in the room and positioned the device, a signal decoy, in the correct place before sliding the draw back.

"There's not much else to see on this floor," Hope said as they exited. "It must be nearly time for the main event."

Darren was waiting for them just along the corridor and they unconsciously paused.

"What an impressive facility, Darren," Hermione praised, resuming her walk. "I'm extremely impressed, but I have to admit I'm anxious for the main attraction."

"As am I," he replied, "We're just waiting for the guest of honour." He looked back down to the foyer and they saw Hank arrive at the security. "Ah, speak of the devil."

They made their way down to meet Hank and then Cross took them to the vault where his suit, the Yellowjacket, was stored. Cross placed his face towards the scanner and the computer accepted his scan.

"Little over-the-top, don't you think, Darren?" Hank said.

"No, you can never be too safe," he replied as the vault unsealed itself.

They walked into the interior, followed by a number of security personnel, and Hermione was surprised by how empty it was. The sole point of interest was the container in the centre of the room. At first glance, you would think the case to be empty, but on closer inspection she could see the tiny suit that was causing so many problems.

"I gotta hand it you, Darren, you really did it," Hank said as Hermione moved forwards to get a closer look at the suit.

"And you only know the half of it, Hank," he replied softly as the vault doors hissed shut.

Hermione looked at the Yellowjacket and its container pensively. If all was to go to plan, Scott would be wiping out Pym Tech's servers any moment to erase all information and data about the suit to prevent Cross from making his replica of the Pym particle. Then, Scott would be descending into the container itself to retrieve the suit from under Cross's very nose. However, it was hardly a foolproof plan and she ran plenty of different scenarios through her head about what she could do should things go awry.

"What do you think?" Darren asked, coming to stand next to her.

"It's remarkable," she answered truthfully.

"More impressive than the Iron Man suit, right?" he teased.

"Don't tell Tony I said so, but, yes," she admitted. "The shrinking of organic matter is such a breakthrough. Do you really think it will help bring peace to the world?"

"I'm confident an army of Yellowjackets will create a sustainable environment of well-being very soon," he replied suavely.

"And you've already got buyers?" she asked, keen to know who they were.

"Oh, yes," he nodded confidently. The vault doors slid open again and a group of well-dressed men entered. The man at the head of the group looked vaguely familiar to Hermione but it took a moment for her to place him as Mitchell Carson, an ex-head of defence from S.H.I.E.L.D's history. Hank seemed to recognise him too because he was giving Carson a very cold look.

"Hello, Dr Cross," Carson greeted, looking at Pym warily. "My associates have agreed to your terms," he said, referring to the men he had entered with.

"Wonderful," Cross replied. "Mr Carson introduced me to these fine gentlemen here," he explained to Hank and Hermione. "They're representatives of HYDRA."

Hermione couldn't help but release a little gasp of surprise at this revelation.

But then her vision became tinged with yellow and she experienced a strange sensation as everything around her rapidly seemed to grow in size. Or, perhaps, she was getting smaller…

* * *

A/N I know you were all expecting us to get straight to Civil War but we're doing a little stopover in Ant-Man first. I LOVE the first Ant-Man film. It's one of my favs in the MCU. I wasn't originally sure if I was going to include it in my Sorceress series but I thought of a way to make it work so here it is!

As ever, please let me know what you think!

Love,

Lil Drop of Magic


	5. Chapter 5

A/N Thanks for all your continued support, you lovely lot!

This one's for a certain Mr Stan Lee: without whom, this fic would not be possible.

* * *

Hope watched, aghast, as Darren used a handheld device to shrink Hermione down to a miniature size. It was a shocking move – not least because fully exposing someone to the Pym Particle formulae without a protective helmet was almost certainly going to mess with their brain chemistry. Furious that Darren should be so careless with another person's life, Hope silently seethed as he bent down and scooped the tiny, struggling Hermione into a container.

"HYDRA might not be what they were," he said easily, as though this was a perfectly normal turn of events, "they're doing some really interesting stuff, but even they couldn't turn down the chance to have Captain America's wife so literally in their pocket." He handed over the little container to one of the HYDRA men before turning to Hank coldly. "You tried to hide your technology from me, betrayed me to some new allies, and now it's going to blow up in your face." Hank swung his fist into Darren's face before he was restrained by the security. "Wow!" Darren exclaimed, rubbing his chin in surprise, " _Wow_. I mean, I saw the punch coming a mile away but I just figured it'd be all weak and pathetic."

"Well, you thought wrong," Hank shot back, shrugging the security's grip off his shoulders.

Darren simply chuckled. "But I'm not wrong about this," he said, looking back at the container that held the Yellowjacket. Heartbroken, Hope saw the Ant-Man suit emerge from the tunnel to grab the suit as planned, but the Yellowjacket was pulled out of the container, away from Scott's reach. Their whole plan had fallen apart.

Darren held the Yellowjacket suit tightly in his grasp as he knocked tauntingly on the reinforced glass. "Hi, little guy."

Darren turned back to Hank. "I always suspected you had a suit stored away somewhere, which begs the question, who is the new Ant-Man? Who is the man that my beloved mentor trusted even more than me?" He paused dramatically and then revealed distastefully, " _Scott Lang._ The martyr who took on the system and paid the price, losing his only daughter in the process. Exactly your kind of guy, Hank. He escapes his jail cell without leaving any clue as to how, and then, he disappears magically, despite having no money to his name, and now he brings me the Ant-Man suit, the only thing that can rival my creation."

"Darren, don't do this," Hank said cautiously, "If you sell to these men, it's going to be chaos."

"I already have," he replied firmly, "And for twice the price, thanks to you and Mrs Rogers. Thankfully, word travels fast when the Avengers are interested in your tech. Oh, I'll sell them the Yellowjacket but I'm keeping the particle to myself. They don't run on diesel. If you want the fuel," he said, turning to the main HYDRA henchman, "you'll have to come to me." He handed the yellow particle mixture to one of his security guards and then turned to Hank triumphantly. "What do you call the only man who can arm the most powerful weapon in the world?"

"The most powerful man in the world," Hank replied regrettably.

"You proud of me, yet?" Darren asked.

"Abduction; getting on the wrong side of the Avengers?" Hank shook his head sadly. "You can stop this, Darren. It isn't too late."

Darren looked at him carefully. "It's been too late for a long time now." He nodded at his security and they pulled out their guns, training them on Hank.

Hope stepped forwards in alarm. "Darren, what are you doing?"

She could see the emotions bubbling under the surface as he looked at her. "He wasn't any more capable of caring for you than he was for me."

"This is not who you are," she told him clearly. "It's the particles affecting your brain chemistry."

Darren turned slowly to look at Hank, considering her words. "Wait," he ordered quickly, "wait, wait, wait!" He stepped forwards and took hold of the closest gun. Hope let out the smallest breath of relief. "You're right. I have to be the one to do it." He levelled the gun at Hank's head and Hope elbowed the security guard hovering behind her before pointing her own gun at Darren.

"Drop your gun," she instructed firmly; not bothered by the weapons that were now trained on her.

"You know I came to the house the other night to kill him," Darren told her emotionally, "but _you_ were there!"

"You're sick and I can help you," she said softly, "Just put the gun down."

"I wasn't ready to kill you then, but I think I am now!" he cried.

" _Drop your gun, now_!" she yelled.

"You picked the wrong side, Hope!" he snarled.

The glass container suddenly exploded as Scott somehow engineered his escape and chaos reigned as Hank and Hope joined the fight back.

A shot was fired and Hope screamed, "Dad!" as Hank fell to the floor. Scott rushed to his side to reassure him that he was going to be all right but Darren levelled a gun to the back of Scott's helmet.

"Take the suit off or I'll blow your brains out and peel it off," Darren ordered savagely. Tears in her eyes, Hope spotted the neural transmitter on the floor and snatched it up, placing it over her ear to get the ants to do her bidding. Scott didn't move so Darren pulled the trigger – or, at least, he tried to – but the ants were in the way of the mechanism and others were trying to bite him. Darren let out a noise of great disgust and dropped the gun. He grabbed the case that contained the Yellowjacket and then made his escape.

Hope knelt next to her father as an alarm blared through the facility. "Dad, can you move?" she asked gently, hating the dazed and pained expression on his face.

"Yes," he muttered.

"We need to get him out of here," Scott said but Hope looked at him, anger at Darren coursing through her body.

" _Go get that suit_ ," she said forcefully. Scott hesitated for a moment and then nodded, popping his helmet closed and disappearing from sight.

"Rogers," Hank murmured, and Hope rushed over to the unconscious HYDRA man. She went to pull the tiny container from his suit pocket but all she found were the broken remains of the container.

"How did she…" Hope muttered in confusion.

" _Hope!_ " the desperate voice came from close by and she peered around for the miniature figure, eventually spotting Hermione on the man's shirt. She was attempting to stand but kept falling over. Hope carefully moved Hermione into her hand and rushed back to Hank as the doors of the vault slid closed.

"You need to get her down to the lab and hope the reverse formula is still loaded onto the system," Hank said, struggling to sit up with the bullet wound in his shoulder. "It's too dangerous to use one of the disks to bring her back to normal size."

"Dad, the charges are set," Hope reminded him. "We've got to find a way to get _out_ of here and _fast_."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to die and neither are you," Hank said, jerkily pulling out his keys and picking out a little tank figure. "It's _not_ a key-chain."

Bulldozing the doors of the vault in a tank was extremely satisfying even though Hope was very concerned about Hermione's welfare and Scott's pursuit of Darren. Once they were clear of the vault, Hank reassured her that he would be fine and urged her to hurry. She ran to the lab, Hermione's vulnerable figure cupped in her hand, praying that the process would work. She placed Hermione on the testing mat and hurried to the computers but her heart plummeted at what she saw: everything was gone.

"Shit!" she yelled, slamming the counter in frustration. "Shit, shit, _shit_!"

"Is it because we wiped the servers?" Hermione asked as Hope disconsolately came back to her.

Hope nodded. "I think so." She held out her hand and Hermione climbed into it.

"Don't worry," Hermione reassured her, "I've been in worse situations than this."

Hope found that very hard to believe but there was no time to question her. Hank could tell from the look on her face as climbed back into the tank that things hadn't gone according to plan.

"Let's get out of here," she muttered and didn't even enjoy the way the tank crashed through the building anymore.

* * *

Hermione was _not_ enjoying her experience of being minuscule. The first few minutes had been nothing but a muddled, disorientated blur as her mind and body struggled to cope with what had happened. She recalled what Hope had told her about Cross's behaviour being altered by exposure to the particles and she was extremely concerned that he'd affected her own brain chemistry when he'd shrunk her down. Once she'd felt more in control of her body and mind, she'd used her magic to shatter the container she was being held in and crawled out of her captor's pocket.

And now she was facing the possibility of being ant-sized for a prolonged period of time. What she'd told Hope was true, she _had_ been in worse positions, but there was no denying that it was a nuisance. Could her magic return her to normal? She wasn't sure and she wasn't prepared to attempt it just yet. She had faith that Hank Pym would figure out how to return her to size seeing as he was the original inventor of the technology. Perhaps there was a way that they could shrink Scott's suit down to her size so that she could wear it just to return to normal? That was assuming, of course, that Scott ever returned…

Hermione allowed Hope to place her onto her shoulder so that she could lift her injured father out of the tank. The scene outside Pym Tech was completely chaotic – even more so from her unusual perspective – but there was no sign of Scott or Cross. She felt a wave of anger for the way Darren had intended to use her to curry favour with HYDRA. She'd thought that simply being Hermione Rogers was safer than the Sorceress but she had been quite wrong about that. It was time to show Darren Cross what a mistake he'd made getting on the wrong side of Mrs Rogers!

Hermione jumped from Hope's shoulder onto the rubble-strewn tank and ran through a series of spells on the debris to check that she was performing them properly. If anything, her work seemed more precise and powerful and she nodded her head with satisfaction. The only problem was she didn't know where to find Cross. She looked over at Hope and apparated back to her shoulder. Hope looked down in surprise at the cracking noise but obviously hadn't noticed Hermione's absence because she didn't look surprised to see her there again.

"I'm going to help Scott," Hermione yelled over the noise of the different sirens.

Hope looked like she was very concerned with her sanity and opened her mouth to respond but the charges inside Pym Tech suddenly went off and everyone was thrown off their feet with the force of the blast. Hermione turned into smoke to avoid impacting onto the ground and was grimly satisfied to see that the building had completely disappeared.

She flew upwards and finally saw the helicopter that Cross had escaped in crossing over the water. She sped off after it, concerned by the bright flashing that occurred within and the erratic movement of the chopper. Surely Cross wasn't crazy enough to open fire when the vessel was airborne? As she got closer, the flashing stopped and, from what she could see, neither Scott nor Cross was still on board. The helicopter was spinning out of control and it was clear that the pilots were unconscious. Knowing that she couldn't leave the sprawled men to a fiery death, she slowed the aircraft's momentum and carefully guided it to a safe-ish landing in the nearest space she could find. After putting out the flames, she looked around in frustration, not sure where to go or what to do next.

A police siren in the distance caught her attention and she flew off after it – hoping to hear some communication over the radio that might give her an indication of what was going on. Once she'd gotten the vehicle in sight, she apparated onto the dashboard and tried to keep out of sight of the officers responding to the current call. When they got to the intended destination, Hermione was disappointed to see that it was just a normal suburban road. Her officers seemed to be the first on the scene and Hermione watched as they consoled a frantic woman as she pointed back at her house.

"It's got my daughter!" she cried, "The monster's got Cassie!"

Understanding clicked into place at once and Hermione felt very fortunate that she was exactly where she needed to be. With a final calculating look, she apparated up to the room Cassie's mother kept pointing to. She found herself in a bedroom that was exactly as a little girl's should be – except for the terrifying, full-sized Yellowjacket standing menacingly in the corner. Scott's daughter was sat on the bed and Hermione was full of admiration that the little girl wasn't screaming, which is what she would've done.

"Don't be scared," Cross said, his voice distorted by the yellow suit and Cassie's wide eyes stared back at him uncertainly.

Hermione sent a dismantling spell at his suit but he saw the bright flash coming and shrank down to avoid it. She apparated away to avoid the blue blasts from his suit and reappeared close behind him so that he didn't have time to block or avoid her spells. However, he seemed to sense her presence because he viciously kicked out at her without fully seeing her and she was propelled backwards. If she didn't have her improved body courtesy of Thanos, she was sure he would've broken a couple of her ribs. At the least, the pain was such that she suspected they were very bruised.

"Mrs Rogers," he said, evidently shocked to see it was she who was attacking him as she landed awkwardly on the hardwood flooring. "You are just full of surprises." He fired at her again and she erected a shield to protect herself, making the blue lines bounce off. " _Full_ of surprises," he said impressed.

He leapt at her, returning to full size, which seemed to close the distance between them far more quickly than she had time to react to and he slammed his hand down on top of her, crushing her against the floor. With no room to twist, she was unable to apparate away so she lashed out with all the magic she could muster. Cross yelled at the pain her spell was causing him and tried to maintain the pressure, but the hand of his suit started to disintegrate so he wrenched it away, immediately replacing it with shots from his suit. The blue light missed her by millimetres but the holes that were created in the flooring were huge compared to her and she fell through to the dusty darkness below as she struggled to recover her breath after the attempted crushing.

She heard Cassie scream so she apparated back up to the room at once and was very relieved to see Scott emerge through the window.

"There you are," Cross murmured, keeping a close grip on Cassie as he looked at the Ant-Man.

"Daddy, is that you?" Cassie asked. Hermione watched the situation closely, not willing to cast a spell whilst Cassie was in the line of fire.

Scott popped open his helmet and smiled reassuringly at his daughter. "Hi, peanut!" he said before turning his gaze to Cross. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" He threw one of the shrinking discs at Cross, making him release Cassie, before shrinking down himself. Hermione watched Cassie run into the relative safety of her closet. While Scott was keeping Cross distracted, she would get the little girl to safety. She flew after her but stopped just short of the closet door so as not to scare Cassie any more than she probably already was.

She checked over her shoulder and saw that Cross and Scott were suitably taken up in a battle on a moving train set. She turned back to introduce herself to Cassie when she heard Scott shout her name.

"Hermione! I got you covered!" Scott cried enthusiastically. And Hermione saw, far too late, that he had chucked another disc at her – the disc that Hank had said was far too dangerous to use to get her back to normal size…

Cassie screamed as Hermione stumbled into the closet. Her body started violently trembling and she opened her mouth to tell Cassie that it was all right, that she was there to help her, but instead she vomited all over the floor. Black spots danced in her vision and she knew it was far too dangerous to disapparate with Cassie when she was like this.

"It'll be OK, Cassie," she gasped, struggling to manipulate her body into a position where she could see what was going on and, in the end, she just gave up and closed her eyes. "Just stay in here…" Now that she was normal again, she knew that she was a much easier target for Cross to aim at so she focused all her attention on creating a magical barrier that would protect the two of them from his weapons.

"You're here to help my daddy?" she heard Cassie ask and Hermione did her best to nod without breaking her concentration on the shield. "But you're sick," Cassie murmured. Hermione's focus was nearly shattered when she felt a little hand touching her head. "My mommy always strokes my hair when I'm sick," the girl said, doing the same for Hermione.

"Thank you," Hermione said, her voice barely louder than a whisper. She didn't know if Cassie's movements were helping, but the child's compassion inspired Hermione to fight even harder. She would never let anything happen to this little girl.

She felt a couple of blasts impact against her shield and Cassie gasped, but the barrier held firm. "Keep away!" Cassie suddenly yelled and Hermione realised that Cross must be advancing on them. She cracked open her eyes, immediately wishing she hadn't when another wave of nausea swept through her, but she saw the full sized Yellowjacket inches away, firing constantly at her shield. He roared in frustration and tried to tear at the closet physically, but he was thrown backwards. Hermione's stomach rolled and she heaved again. Cross took advantage of the break in her concentration, grabbing her leg and dragging her away from Cassie. Hermione lashed out with a couple of severing hexes but she was too disorientated to see if they had been successful.

She heard different voices around her but she couldn't make out what they were saying. With great effort, she turned her groggy head towards the blur that looked like Cassie and focused on sustaining a protective spell around her…

* * *

Steve did _not_ look impressed when Hermione finished informing him of the events in San Francisco.

"But you're definitely OK now?" he asked, concern evident in his features. "Your brain chemistry is normal?"

"Pym seems to think so," she replied. "He tried to do some brain scans after I healed his arm but, like always, my magic was too interfering. All the physical symptoms have gone though, so he just recommended that those closest to me keep an eye on my behaviour."

"So you want everyone to check that you're not acting crazy?" Steve clarified, his frown much deeper now.

"Well, crazier than normal," she joked, trying to make light of the situation. Steve's expression didn't change and she sighed. She moved closer to him on the couch and lightly rested her head against his, letting him feel that she was calm about the situation. "Steve, I'll be fine. I've come through much worse."

He nodded. "I know," he sighed. "You couldn't have foreseen those circumstances when you headed out west. It's a good thing you were there."

"Oh, I don't know," Hermione reasoned, "I think they had it covered – if anything I probably made it worse. I'm just glad everyone emerged unscathed and HYDRA didn't get their hands on those suits."

Steve let out a noise that was a mixture of relief and anger. "Yeah, thank God." Hermione knew how frustrated he was that his old enemy had such a handle on the world at the moment. He looked for a slight change of subject. "So, do you think Lang is a possible Avengers candidate?"

"Oh, yes," she replied with conviction. Scott's actions in taking down Darren Cross had all the markings of a hero and that suit would definitely add another dimension to their team. "I would say let's set things in motion today but I know that Pym is dead set against his technology being used alongside the Avengers. And there's also…"

"What?" Steve prompted.

"Well, _Cassie_."

"His daughter?"

Hermione nodded, fondly recalling the spirited seven-year-old. Remarkably, Cassie hadn't seemed any the worse after her encounter with the Yellowjacket. If anything, Cassie had been more concerned about Hermione.

"Daddy, why won't the lady wake up?" Hermione had been able to hear the young voice but it had sounded like it was coming from very far away.

"I don't know, peanut," Scott had muttered.

"You need to be careful, she's _really_ sick," Cassie warned.

"Yeah, I know, I think that might have been because of me," he said guiltily.

" _Daddy!_ " Cassie scolded.

"I was trying to help!" he defended. "I just hope she wakes up soon so we can get to you."

These words didn't quite make sense to Hermione so she cracked open an eyelid.

"Daddy, look!"

"Hermione, thank God," Scott sighed with relief. "I was getting worried that I'd killed you."

"What happened?" she murmured blearily.

"Daddy saved us!" Cassie boasted, "The monster's gone."

Scott explained how he'd realised the only way he could destroy the Yellowjacket suit was to shrink between the molecules themselves. To achieve this, he'd had to disengage the regulator of his suit – a very dangerous practice that Hank Pym had told him never to do as there was no known way to reverse the process and he would just continue to shrink for all time.

"But…" Hermione had frowned at him in confusion.

Scott shook his head. "I don't remember what happened or even how I got out," he explained. "I just suddenly found myself back here."

Hermione twisted her head slightly. "Cassie?" she asked.

"Cassie's fine," Scott reassured, "We just can't get to her at the moment."

Hermione realised that her magical shield must still be intact and she cancelled the spell at once. "Sorry," she mumbled, "It should be fine now."

Scott took a couple of experimental steps in the direction of his daughter and then Cassie leapt into his arms. Hermione looked away, not wanting to intrude on the touching moment between father and daughter. She felt better, she realised, as she manoeuvred herself into a sitting position, but certainly not well. With a grimace, she vanished all evidence of her sickness from the floor and conjured herself a glass of water.

Cassie giggled. "Daddy! Put me down, I want to talk to the Sorceress!"

"Wait, what?" Scott looked down at Hermione in confusion as Cassie climbed down and knelt next to her eagerly.

"Surprise!" Hermione said to him drily.

Cassie thought it was hilarious that Scott hadn't put two and two together when he'd seen her do strange things, but she still thought it was very cool that her dad was friends with a superhero.

"Cassie, your Daddy is the hero," Hermione told her honestly and the expression on the little girl's face as she looked at Scott had stuck vividly in her mind ever since.

Hermione shook her head and looked at Steve. "Cassie and Scott have only just begun to spend time together – I don't want to pull him into our crazy world yet."

"Sounds like the crazy's already found him," Steve pointed out. "I think it's great that you want to protect their relationship but it sounds like Lang is the one best qualified to decide what to do with his future."

Hermione sighed. "I know."

Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. "You're never going to stop caring about everyone, are you?"

"Of course not!" she objected.

"Good," he murmured, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Content, Hermione turned her head and kissed him. She'd intended for it to be fleeting but the thrill that raced through her had her desiring more. Steve certainly didn't object as she swung her leg over his hips to deepen their kiss. Hermione was just about to suggest they move things to the bedroom when there was a catcall from the doorway.

"Mr and Mrs Rogers know how to have a good time!" Natasha teased from the doorway. They pulled away from each other and Hermione sent Natasha an unimpressed look over her shoulder. "Dinner's ready," Natasha said simply, an amused smile dominating her features.

Steve sighed. "We'll be there in a minute." Natasha's smirk deepened and she raised her eyebrows suggestively as she walked away. Steve gently rubbed his thumbs along the juncture of her hips. "Remember when you said Thor mentioned a possible trip to Asgard…?"

Hermione felt another thrill of pleasure. " _Definitely_."

* * *

Steve tried to appear calm for Hermione's sake but, in truth, his heart was racing a mile a minute. He could see that she was trembling so he reached out and pulled her into his arms, careful to avoid any skin to skin contact because he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she was thinking right now.

The tense silence between them was such that he could still hear the laughter of their friends a few rooms away as they continued to enjoy the Halloween-themed activities that Hermione had prepared for them all.

"I think it's time," he said, his voice hoarser than he'd like.

Hermione nodded: for once, seemingly lost for words.

"After three?" he suggested and she made a little squeak of agreement.

"One…" He reached out and picked it up. "Two…" Hermione gripped his shirt tightly. "Three…"

Steve took a deep breath, glanced down, and saw the word that would change his life forever: _Pregnant_.

* * *

A/N: Ahhh! I'm so excited to finally drop that on you all. Let me know your thoughts!

Lil Drop of Magic


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks for all the story love!

* * *

Just a sole pregnancy test was not enough for Hermione Rogers. Three further muggle tests were taken along with two magical ones before she finally accepted that they were all telling the truth: she _was_ pregnant.

She'd never been more terrified in her life.

If they'd planned for this, or even had an inkling recently that she was pregnant, she may not have been quite so petrified, but it had been less than thirty minutes since the conversation that had triggered her taking the first test.

She'd been looking forward to the Halloween get-together for days as she was excited to share her own magical traditions with their muggle festivities for the first time. She was aware it wasn't going to be anywhere near as spectacular as a Hogwarts feast given the lack of ghosts or beautiful setting, but she had spent a lot of her free time – what little of it there was – thinking of decorations and foods they could enjoy. She'd even gone as far as ordering a few joke products from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes to entertain her friends.

She was relatively pleased with the final result and enjoyed seeing the expressions on the faces of her friends as they took in the darkness of their transformed communal area, complete with bewitched ceiling, levitating carved pumpkins and steaming mini cauldrons (wisely, only containing sparkling solutions).

The problem was her efforts in preparing the display had left her too tired to really enjoy it. As she took a seat on one of the incredibly comfortable pumpkin-shaped chairs, she honestly thought she could fall straight asleep despite the hubbub of conversation and spontaneous bursts of laughter when someone unexpectedly turned into a bat for a few seconds after eating one of the food selections.

"You look exhausted," she heard Steve say softly to her and she cracked open an eyelid to see he had squatted down next to her. "Are you still feeling unwell?" At her uncommitted shrug, he frowned and said, "You've been like this for five days now. I don't like it; you never get ill." That was relatively true. It wasn't often that she was under the weather and, on the rare occasions that she was, she would normally be able shrug it off after a couple of days.

"I haven't thrown up today," she pointed out with lethargic optimism.

"Well, that's something, I suppose," Steve said, still looking unhappy. "Have you eaten anything, though? You're not going to recover if you don't keep up your energy levels. How about one of Molly's pumpkin pasties – you love those, right?"

Hermione perked up a little at the notion of sampling some of the food Molly Weasley had been kind enough to send over and Steve brought one over to her. However, as soon as the normally-delicious butter and pumpkin aroma reached her, her eyes widened in alarm and she had to hold a hand over her mouth to stop herself from vomiting. Thankfully, it was so dark in the room that no one apart from Steve noticed her sudden dash for their bathroom as she experienced a wave of nausea.

"Bao Bei?" Steve said in concern, following her into the room as she retched into the toilet. She was only capable only of a groan in response and he rubbed her back soothingly until the sickness had passed.

"Damnit," Hermione muttered croakily, "I haven't felt nauseous all day." She sat up and saw that Steve was still holding the plate containing the pasty, prompting another wave of vomiting. "Get that away from me!" she choked out between heaves.

Steve muttered a quick apology and then left, quickly returning with a glass of water. Hermione took it gratefully as Steve looked at her pensively. "It was just the smell?" he asked and she nodded, making him look even more thoughtful. "You know," he said evenly, settling onto the floor and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, "when I was growing up, my mother and I lived next to this woman who loved bologna and she would eat a bologna sandwich every single day." Hermione eyed him curiously, wondering where he was going with this story. "However, one day, she found that the mere sight, let alone aroma, of bologna turned her stomach and she couldn't eat it anymore."

"Why?"

Steve gazed at her for a moment and seemed to be deliberating whether he wanted to answer. "Because she was pregnant."

Hermione gasped and a shock of terror ran through her body, but her mind immediately went into denial. "You don't mean… No, I… There's no… We've always been really careful!," she pointed out. "I can't be pregnant. I'm just a little run down, that's all. Women can throw up without being pregnant, Steve!" she gabbled, beginning to sound a little hysterical.

"I know," he said gently.

Hermione did some quick calculations in her head and the answer did not settle her nerves. "I – I _am_ a bit late," she allowed, before quickly adding, "but I've not exactly been regular since Sanctuary, have I?" She asked, not that Steve would really know. "This is crazy – I'm not pregnant!"

"Are you sure?" he asked pointedly and her shoulders slumped.

"Well, no, of course not," she relented. "Not without doing a test."

And once that statement had been made, there was no way Hermione could proceed with anything without finding out the answer immediately. It just hadn't been the result she was expecting.

Hermione stared down at the collection of muggle tests in her hand, her mind currently only capable of repeating the word each device clearly displayed: _pregnant, pregnant, pregnant…_

Steve sighed and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. "Tell me what you're thinking," he requested softly. It would be perfectly easy for him to find out on his own if he just shifted the position of his hands, but she had enough brain function to appreciate the respect he was showing her by preferring her to tell him willingly.

"I'm scared," she murmured against his chest, "I'm _so_ scared, Steve."

He kissed the top of her head. "I know, it's OK," he reassured her. "I am too."

"I mean, what world is this child going to be born into?" she asked anxiously. "Everything is so unsettled around the planet at the moment even without the threat of Thanos on the horizon! You and I being who we are will only put any child of ours at great danger from our enemies." She pulled out of his embrace with a gasp as a thought suddenly entered her head. "Will we have to quit our jobs? We can't risk our lives when we have a child depending on us! What if one of us – or both of us – gets killed? Who'll look after the baby then?" Steve opened his mouth, intending to allay her fears, but she had an even more worrying realisation. "What if they end up like both of us – magic _and_ super-soldier? They'll be _so_ different to everyone else from the moment they're born! Oh, Steve, what have we done?!" She burst into tears and let Steve pull her back into his arms, murmuring reassuringly to her until she began to calm down.

"I don't know the first thing about how to take care of a baby," she said bleakly.

"Well, thankfully, we've got a few months to find out," Steve pointed out calmly and Hermione nodded, envisioning an immediate future that contained a large collection of pregnancy and parenting books. "As for your other concerns, I don't have any answers at the moment," he admitted apologetically but he tilted her head up so that she could look into his eyes. "But, what I _do_ know, is that you and I _will_ get through this _together_." Hermione's eyes welled up again, but this time it was due to the overwhelming love she had for the man who held her heart. "I know this is scary – _it's terrifying_ – but, if there's anyone who can handle this next step in our lives – and all the complications that you've mentioned – then it's _you,_ Hermione." He removed his hand from her waist and ran the pads of his fingers across her stomach, making her shiver. "I have no doubt that you're going to be the most incredible, loving mother to our child."

She let out a strange noise that was a cross between a sob, a sigh and a laugh, but it perfectly encapsulated her swirling mixture of emotions. "Our child," she repeated and, despite the immense fear, she felt a small thrill at the way Steve's eyes lit up slightly.

" _Our child_."

* * *

"God, this place is depressing," Tony muttered as they followed memory-Hermione through the Dark Aster. "No wonder you were such a basketcase when you came back."

"Yes, my mental state was entirely caused by the gloominess of Ronan's ship," real-Hermione replied sarcastically.

For the past few weeks, she and Tony had been using a Pensieve to explore her memories of her time in space in case it provided Tony with any details she had failed to recall. They had already covered her memories of the Milano, so much so that Tony, with F.R.I.D.A.Y's assistance, had been able to create detailed schematics of the M Class ship. Due to the highly magical properties inside the Pensieve, F.R.I.D.A.Y couldn't operate when they were exploring Hermione's memories despite Tony's best efforts to make it possible. He couldn't even _access_ the memories without Hermione magically pulling him into the silvery substance.

The first time they'd used it, it had felt extremely surreal to see her recollection of the Guardians played out in front of her. Tony had had _plenty_ of comments about her friends to begin with but he soon got so used to seeing them that he barely noticed when Rocket said something offensive or Quill convinced Hermione to engage in some uncharacteristic dancing. Tony was far more interested in figuring out the engineering behind the Milano. When he'd gleaned all that he could, she'd shown him some of Xandar and the other planets she'd visited during her journey to Asgard, before moving on to the Dark Aster.

There was _some_ benefit in showing those memories to Tony but she was perfectly aware it would be much more useful to see Thanos and Sanctuary. But she wasn't ready for that yet. Tony had once casually mentioned wanting to get a look at their enemy and Hermione had promptly exploded all the lights in their lab by accident.

"OK… Well, maybe another time," he'd murmured as she magically repaired everything. He looked at her reflectively. "I thought your chats with Sam were helping?"

"My therapy _is_ helping," she answered adamantly.

And it was. Together, she and Sam had gradually explored her mental state: traced her constant desperation to prove herself back to her desire to be accepted into the Wizarding World, discussed her psychological scars from her many exploits with Harry and worked through her traumatic experiences at the hands of Thanos to make her a more confident and mentally strong person. Their work took a major hit with her pregnancy but Sam was doing his best to build her back up again. She was so grateful to have his support whenever a bout of anxiety flared up or even when she just needed to talk. She knew she had Steve's unwavering support but, sometimes, his words would be more sugar-coated than she needed. Although she very much considered him to be a close friend, during their sessions Sam made it very clear that he was her therapist, and that everything he did during their time together would be to strengthen her mental state. Sometimes he'd question or challenge her in a way that would make her extremely emotional or angry and she'd believe that having such a close friend as a therapist probably wasn't such a good idea, but then she'd calm down and recognise the legitimacy of what he'd said. It had taken a while to open up to Sam, especially about her time on Sanctuary. However, it was _one_ thing to talk about her experience and quite another to see the creature that embodied her nightmares before her eyes, as Tony was requesting, and she told him as much.

He looked a little pained that she was still so haunted but said, "Maybe you just need to see him and get it done – face your fear head on. If you build him up too much that you can't even look at him, he's winning. Don't give him that power over you." His words had stayed with her and she hated the idea that she was so weak when it came to Thanos, but she felt confident that she would overcome that particular fear in the next few days.

Memory-Hermione moved onto the control room of the Dark Aster and Tony walked over to the pilots, fascinated by the way they controlled the ship by manipulating a glowing ball of energy.

"You look like a kid at Christmas," Hermione said at the eager way Tony moved from pilot to pilot.

"This is _far_ more interesting than Christmas was," he murmured.

"Hey!" Hermione objected.

He glanced up at her. "What?"

"You spent Christmas with me, Steve and everyone else!"

"I haven't forgotten," he said lightly.

" _And_ that's when we told you about Pickle," Hermione reminded him and Tony's eyes flickered to her small bump that had recently begun to show on her stomach. "You can't tell me that wasn't an interesting turn of events."

Tony shrugged. "Well, nobody knew quite what to think about _that_."

Judging by the expressions on their friends' faces after they had heartily feasted on their Christmas dinner, that was an accurate assessment. Perhaps sharing the news when everyone looked like they wanted to sleep off the meal was not the best idea. Pepper, at least, had seemed very happy for them and Sam had already been aware for a while to help Hermione cope with the unexpected news. However, the others – particularly Natasha and Tony – seemed to be contemplating the impact a child would have on the group.

"To be honest, we're still getting _our_ heads around it and we've known for a couple of months," Steve admitted.

"Two _months_?!" Pepper gasped. "I can't believe how good you two are at keeping secrets from us!"

There were a few very quick, uncomfortable glances after Pepper's statement and Tony looked at Hermione darkly, always irked that he had to keep such a huge secret from the woman that he loved. "Well, it does sort of come with the job," Hermione pointed out weakly. "But I will be taking a step back from field missions from now on. And I've been advised to stop travelling magically since entering the second trimester, so if you want a trip anywhere exotic, you've got to go the long way now."

"Somehow, I think you will find that more frustrating than us," Wanda pointed out.

The others smiled knowingly, aware just how much she must be struggling to adapt to moving at a slower pace.

"As for the long-term future," Steve said and then shrugged, "we honestly don't know yet."

"Clint suggested that we might not know until the baby gets here," Hermione added. This revelation did not go down well.

" _What?!_ You told Clint already?" Natasha cried, looking mightily offended.

" _I_ already knew," Sam admitted with a smug grin and Hermione rolled her eyes at his childish antics.

"So did I," Vision revealed, much to Steve and Hermione's surprise.

"You did?" Steve asked.

"Well, I am more observant than humans," Vision told them, "and I noticed a few changes in your eating and bathroom habits, Hermione, and pregnancy was the most likely explanation."

"Thanks, Vision, that's all _exactly_ what we wanted to hear after the enormous meal we've just had," Tony muttered.

"Sam and Clint knew before everyone else because, well, I needed help to mentally adapt to this news and we wanted advice from someone who knows what we're going through," Hermione explained. She and Steve had sought guidance from the Bartons very soon after their positive test, wanting to know how he had risked his life with S.H.I.E.L.D and the Avengers when he'd had those who depended on him back home. Clint had explained that, while it wasn't easy, he'd viewed it as making the world a safer place for his children and he'd pointed out that he was hardly an individual case – soldiers, police, firefighters and others lived with the same perils. However, if they did continue with their careers, he also told them that there might come a point when, like him, they'd had enough. Neither Clint nor Laura were particularly surprised to hear about the fear she and Steve were living with and they advised them it was completely normal, and it would all turn out fine. Cuddling baby Nathaniel had certainly been more of an emotional experience ever since – and not just because of her affected hormones.

"Wait – is this why we constantly have no pickles even though we buy loads every week?" Natasha asked, a suspicious expression on her face as she looked at Hermione.

"Yep," she admitted, a little guiltily, "I can't get enough of them at the moment."

"So, your pregnancy is relatively normal considering, well..." Pepper paused delicately, "who you both are?"

"She's not giving birth to an alien!" Tony pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Pepper and she clicked her tongue at him.

"I _know_ that," she retorted, throwing him a semi-annoyed glance.

"My symptoms are pretty normal," Hermione said loudly to stop an argument before it began. "I've been suffering pretty badly with morning sickness – although why they call it 'morning' I've no idea because I've had it at all hours of the day," she grumbled. "And, yes, the cravings have been interesting; I can satisfy my desire for pickles but, thankfully, I haven't acted on my craving for coal." The occupants of the room wrinkled their noses. "My magic has been fluctuating a bit too but it's nothing I can't handle."

"Except at doctor's visits," Steve put in and Hermione sighed.

"I can't stop my magic from interfering with the medical tech," she admitted. It was a problem she'd even tried to work on with Sam to get herself to a calm enough place where she wasn't worried about the welfare of the baby or what damage her magic was inflicting upon the embryo. More than one device in Jemma Simmons' lab had been destroyed by accidental outbursts of Hermione's magic before they decided to do some tests the old-fashioned way: sans technology. "As far as we can tell, the baby is doing fine, as am I, but I need to go back for weekly check-ups." Which wasn't fun now that she couldn't travel magically because the Playground was rather a long journey. She could always transfer to a doctor closer to home – they employed a couple of top medical experts there at the Avengers facility – but with such an important medical need, Hermione only trusted Jemma. The young doctor had recently returned from her own harrowing time in space and Hermione knew that Jemma understood both her mental and physical concerns like no one else.

Hermione was brought out of her musings as the memory she and Tony had been exploring started fading away to darkness. She reached for his hand and lifted them out of the Pensieve, back into their lab. Hermione's hand automatically reached for the jar of pickles that were waiting on the counter and Tony frowned with distaste, despite the fact that she'd done the exact same thing every time they explored her memories.

"So, you call your foetus 'pickle' because it craves pickles?" he asked as he made his way over to a screen to start typing up his notes from the Dark Aster viewing.

Hermione crunched noisily and barely withheld a moan of satisfaction. "Has it only taken you until now to figure that out?" she responded between bites.

"But if it _is_ a pickle and wants you to _eat_ pickles, doesn't that make it a pickle-cannibal?" he posed.

Hermione sent him a flat look. "Don't try and be clever about it."

He shrugged and carried on with his work, while Hermione looked at him contemplatively. "Did you _really_ not enjoy Christmas?" she asked after a while.

Tony shook his head dismissively, not even sparing her a glance. "It was fine – Christmas just isn't a great time for me."

"Because of that Mandarin business a few years ago?" she probed.

"What? No, just… other stuff," he said vaguely.

"What happened?" she gently queried as she washed the pickle juice from her hands.

"It's nothing," he muttered, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Hey, you're the one who told me to face my fears head on," she reminded him. "It was Christmas – how bad could it be? Did your parents not get you the jet ski you always wanted?" she teased.

"No," he replied shortly, "they died."

Hermione felt guilt sweep through her stomach. "Tony, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," he murmured as he typed away, "It was a long time ago."

"Well, it's obviously not _fine_ ," she said. "Have you ever talked to anyone about it?"

"They died in a car crash twenty-four years ago – what's there to say?" he asked, pointedly still not looking at her.

She walked closer to him and shoved the screen away. "Look, I don't care who you are, or how old you were when it happened, losing your parents is a traumatic experience for _anybody_. And it's obvious that you are still suffering from your experience. Talk to me," she requested softly.

Tony shook his head and walked away from her. "No…I don't…" he faltered, "Look, my relationship with my parents – particularly my father – was _complicated_. It's different for you; the memories we've looked at, the things you've been through, painful as I know they were, you didn't act in a way that you regret. I can't recall a single memory of my father that didn't deteriorate into one of us becoming annoyed with the other and it would always make my mother upset."

"Are you sure you can't think of one?" Hermione asked. "There might be a way for me to extract it so you can see it in the Pensieve."

Tony shook his head and his moment of introspection seemed to have passed because his tone was much more like his sarcastic self. "As much fun as it would be to view my handsome self as a third party, I'm going to have to pass, thanks."

"I understand that you're scared – " she began but he cut her off.

"I'm not scared – I just don't want to feel bad about myself! How is that a bad thing?" he queried.

"Because we always need to reflect on our actions to grow as a person," Hermione replied passionately. "It sounds like you've shut off a lot of your feelings about your parents and that's not healthy for you. Remember what happened when you tried to stop thinking about the battle against Loki?"

"That was different," he insisted, "I was having PTSD because I died."

"You experienced trauma when your parents died and it sounds like you've never processed that grief. I don't think I've ever even seen a picture of your mother anywhere!"

"Because it hurts too much!" he snapped at her, hitting the counter with his hand. "The last time I saw her I just made some asinine comment and then walked out of the room without even saying goodbye."

"You didn't know what was going to happen," Hermione told him firmly. "No one could have known."

Tony chewed this over, looking very bitter, and then shook his head. "I wish I could have just one moment with them; one conversation."

Hermione nodded. "I know," she said comfortingly, "but I really do think they already knew whatever it is you would say to them."

"I hope so," he murmured, picking up a stray piece of tech from the counter to tinker with.

Hermione watched him, her heart aching. Just when she thought she knew all there was to know about Tony, he would reveal something else to surprise her. His parents' sudden deaths were obviously a wound that he'd never properly tried to heal but, as a recent advocate of mental health, Hermione wasn't about to let things stay that way.

"I'll show you everything you need to know about Thanos starting tomorrow and then we're going to figure out – either my way or using an invention of your own – how to help you deal with _your_ trauma. Understand?" she challenged.

"You and I have got far more important things to do than to waste time on my relationship with my dead parents," he told her, looking at her as though she was a little crazy.

" _Wrong_ ," she replied simply. "We need to be at our absolute strongest to take on Thanos – and that means mentally as well as physically. We're doing this – don't argue with a pregnant woman!"

* * *

Hermione smiled as Steve gently stroked her baby belly while they lay in bed together. She felt the now familiar fluttering movement inside her and her smile widened. "Pickle knows it's you," she told Steve over her shoulder and he nodded.

"I can feel," he murmured, warmly. They lay like that for a while, enjoying the sensation of their family being together, but then Hermione sighed.

"I need to go to the toilet," she muttered, dragging herself away from the comfortable warmth to pad over to the bathroom. Because of the irregularity of Hermione's menstrual system and the fact they still couldn't use technology during her appointments with Jemma, they'd had to make a very rough estimate for her due date. If they were correct, she was currently about to enter the third trimester. Compared to the tiredness and sickness of the first months of pregnancy, the middle had been a breeze. She was still very scared of the whole situation and a lot of her and Steve's questions about the future had yet to be answered, but she couldn't deny the steady increase in love she felt for her Pickle – especially when she had first started to feel it move.

"Any progress with Tony on the memory front?" Steve asked as she re-entered their room.

"Yes, didn't I tell you?" she replied, getting back under the covers. "He's come up with schematics for this tech to reproduce memories – just like a Pensieve does. But with Tony's idea, theoretically, you can alter the memory to play out how you want it to have happened. If it works, I think he'll find it very therapeutic."

As she lay on her side, Steve's hand automatically returned to her stomach. "He's looking at his parents, right?"

She hummed in confirmation. "Ideally, I think he wants to re-envision their last conversation together before they died in that car crash."

Steve paused for a moment before asking, "Does he still think it was an accident?"

Two and a half years ago during the fight against Alexander Pierce, they had discovered that Howard and Maria Stark's deaths had supposedly been brought about by a covert assassination carried out by HYDRA. She and Steve had never even discussed that revelation until now. "Yes, he does," she answered softly.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"I've considered it a couple of times but I honestly think that he would use that knowledge as a distraction from dealing with his grief," she replied. "Maybe it would be better to tell him when he's worked through his pain," she suggested. "When he's in a better place mentally. I think I'd want to know if it was me…" Silence settled between them for a while until Hermione asked a question that, to most people, wouldn't be as connected to their discussion as both Hermione and Steve suspected it was. "Any news of Bucky?"

Steve's hand stilled its stroking movements. "No."

* * *

A/N: A bit of a transition chapter there but a very important one nonetheless. We are launching right into the events of Civil War next chapter. Let me know what you think is going to happen...

What did you guys think of the Endgame trailer? Ooh, and has anyone seen Spiderverse? I loved it!

Anyway, Happy Holidays!

Lil Drop of Magic


	7. Chapter 7

A/N Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter for you - sorry it's taken so long. Any dialogue you recognise from Captain America: Civil War is obviously not mine!

* * *

Steve attentively watched the comings-and-going in the street below him, aware that a single missed detail could spell the difference between life and death for the innocent citizens of Lagos or even a member of his team.

They had travelled to the Nigerian city because one of Sam's contacts had sent word that an ex-HYDRA agent was operating in the area. Presuming the intel to be about Bucky, Steve had flown to Lagos at once with Sam, Wanda and Natasha. It was only once they had already touched down in Nigeria that they heard from Sam's contact again, and the ex-HYDRA agent was identified as Brock Rumlow.

On a personal note, Steve was disappointed that another possible Bucky-lead had, once again, turned out to be false, but he couldn't deny that he was pleased to have the opportunity to bring Rumlow to justice for everything that he'd done. They'd soon seen in the local newspapers that Rumlow had raided a number of police stations to steal weapons, which was why they had set themselves up in their current location.

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked Wanda, who was sat at a café far below his own position in a hotel room.

Wanda glanced over her shoulder at the police station opposite them. "Standard beat cops," she replied quietly, taking in everything like she'd been trained. "Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means?" he pressed.

"Cameras," Wanda responded.

Steve nodded, pleased. "Both cross streets are one-way."

"So, compromised escape routes," she said.

"It also means Brock doesn't care about being seen," Hermione elaborated in their ears. "He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out – but, in my experience, he never did." She was trying to make her voice sound light but Steve knew that if _he_ found apprehending Rumlow to be a personal case, for Hermione it was even more so. After all, the last time the former colleagues had seen each other, Rumlow had shot her in the back and Hermione had to resort to stabbing him in the leg to get herself free. Despite everything she'd been through since, Hermione was still hurt by Brock's betrayal but Steve's overriding emotion was just anger for what Rumlow had done to her.

Steve knew that Hermione would love to bring Rumlow to justice herself but, in her current condition, she had to be content for the team to bring him in instead. She had still insisted on being part of the team from her position back in the Avengers facility despite it currently being the early hours of the morning back there, and Steve had expressed concern that her monitoring of events would cause her avoidable stress and worry. However, she had insisted that _not_ being able to see and hear what was happening would be far more stressful. And – apart from her frequent, grumbling toilet breaks – all had run smoothly so far.

"You see that Range Rover halfway up the block?" Steve asked, his attention not wavering from the street below them.

"Yeah, the red one?" Wanda replied. "It's cute."

Natasha, seated a couple of tables away from Wanda, chipped in, "It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody – probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda pointed out.

"That doesn't mean you're invincible," Hermione reminded her.

"Yeah," Natasha agreed, "Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature."

"Anybody ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam put in from his position on the hotel's roof.

"Not to my face," Natasha replied. "Why? Did you hear something?"

"Eyes on target, folks," Steve reminded his team, sensing they were getting a little distracted. "This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him." Getting a dangerous terrorist like Rumlow off the streets was a priority for any law enforcement team, but if Steve could ensure he was locked away before the baby arrived it would give himself and Hermione one less thing to worry about: Rumlow did have something of a person vendetta against them after all.

Sam chuckled darkly. "If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem. He kind of hates us," he pointed out, confirming Steve's thoughts.

Hermione made a disgruntled noise in their ears. "Ugh, guys, I've got to go,"

"Another Code nine-one-five-five?" Sam asked.

"Yes, _Sam_ ," Hermione snapped testily, "I need the toilet _again_. But stop trying to make '9-1-5-5' happen just because you think it's funny that it spells out piss."

"Spoilsport," Sam muttered after Hermione announced she'd be back as soon as possible.

By the time she _did_ return to the comms, things had certainly escalated. It turned out they were wrong about Rumlow's intended target being the police station because he'd set his sights on the much more potentially dangerous prospect of the Institute for Infectious Diseases a little further down the road. Sam had already dropped Steve at the under-siege site and he, Sam and Wanda made short work of the majority of Rumlow's guys before she propelled Steve through the window of the building. Steve quickly saw the bodies sprawled on the floor from the gas canisters Rumlow had fired into the place and he held his breath to prevent himself from succumbing to the substance.

He heard Hermione gasp in his ear. "Sitrep," she ordered quickly and Sam filled her in on what she'd missed as Steve took out the mercenaries he came across inside the facility. After a few moments, the green gas that surrounded him was sucked out of the building and the red tinge that accompanied it told him that it was thanks to Wanda's abilities.

"I'm getting in touch with the emergency services in Lagos," Hermione told them. "Any sight of Rumlow, Steve?"

"Not personally," he replied, moving quickly through the building. "Sam saw him through Redwing." The drone Sam used as part of his Falcon setup was a very useful addition to the team – though Steve suspected that Sam was already a little too personally attached to the device.

As he moved deeper through the third floor, the warning and hazard signs on the walls grew more pronounced. And then, in the most highly-secure part of the facility, the empty container confirmed his fears. "Rumlow has a biological weapon," he warned the others.

"I'm on it," Natasha replied and Hermione said she'd update the emergency services.

Steve hurried for the exit, knowing how key it was to stop Rumlow from getting away, and yet also aware that they needed to keep the civilians in the local area safe from danger too.

"South-west corner, Steve," Hermione told him, "Quickly!"

He heeded her instructions and barged through door after door until he found himself out on a small platform. He barely had time to take in the scene below him before Rumlow fired a small missile straight at him from the roof of an AFV. Steve instinctively raised his shield but the impact was still strong enough to ferociously blast him backwards.

"I'm OK," he quickly reassured Hermione and then scrambled back along the corridor as Rumlow fired again and again. Unfortunately, the force of the third projectile blasted him out of the building and he struck the edge of the outer wall awkwardly as he fell. "I'm still OK," he said, but there was no hiding the strain in his voice as he rolled onto his knees. "Guys, Rumlow's in an AFV heading north."

Everyone confirmed the information.

"I've hijacked the local cameras," Hermione said as Steve set off in pursuit. "He's not exactly hard to see. Wait, they've driven into a market. I can't see what's happening - none of the cameras are giving me a good shot. I don't know if they've stopped or changed direction. Sam, have you got a visual?"

There was a pause and then Sam answered, "They've parked up. I've got four, they're splitting up."

"I've got the two on the left," Natasha said and Steve urged himself to go faster, annoyed that he wasn't where he needed to be to protect the people of the city. He leapt over an immobile cab and somersaulted off another to finally arrive in the market. The area was absolutely swarming with people and he was about to yell at them to get as far away as possible but then he saw an abandoned explosives vest and helmet on the ground.

"They've ditched their gear," he said. "It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload." No sooner were the words out of his mouth when a grenade fixed itself to his shield. He stared at it for a split second and Hermione (who could see exactly what he could thanks to the camera on his helmet) screamed his name in alarm. Steve flung the shield into the air just in time as the device detonated just above the crowd, and his shield was blasted far away from him.

Something impacted powerfully into his back and Steve was launched forcefully through a stall in the market.

"There you are, you son of a bitch," a familiar voice growled at him.

Rumlow had found him.

His ex-colleague advanced on him, modifying the arm of his suit to create a metal fist that was more like a battering ram. "I've been waiting for this!" he snarled and punched Steve across the head with such power that he flew back fifteen feet.

Ignoring the pain, Steve got quickly to his feet and stood, ready to defend. "Yeah? Well, so have I," he replied angrily.

Rumlow let out a breath of laughter as he advanced on him again. "This is almost like old times, eh, Cap? All we're missing now is your whore."

Steve leapt forward, rage pulsing through his body as he and Rumlow exchanged blows. It wasn't the smartest move because Rumlow's bodysuit was immensely strong, but he was still perfectly mobile in it and, without his shield to protect him, Steve had to work very hard to not come off worse in their fight.

"Steve, calm down," Hermione said in his ear. "We knew he was going to try and get you riled up, remember?"

"So, where is she?" Rumlow snarled, aiming a lethal punch to Steve's head that he was just able to dodge. "Too scared to face me?"

"You know her better than that," Steve muttered breathlessly, his strikes making little impact on Rumlow.

He laughed again. "Yeah, I do. But maybe _you_ don't know her as well as you think." He kicked Steve away, making him collide with the wall. "I take it she never told you about the night we hooked up."

Steve winced, not because of the pain or the allegation (which he knew didn't hold even a hint of truth), but the almighty shriek of anger Hermione let out at his words.

Rumlow clocked it. "She's listening, isn't she?" he growled but Steve didn't respond and simply attempted to fend off his attacks. "Good. I wouldn't want you missing the fun, Granger. Or should I be calling you, Mrs Rogers?" Rumlow kicked Steve in the chest and sent him crashing through another stall. "How does it feel to know your wife was the STRIKE unit's _slut_?" he spat at Steve.

"You're _pathetic_ ," he shot back, anger still thrumming through his body. He knew that Rumlow was lying but the accusations against Hermione's character still infuriated him.

"She was a good screw," Rumlow continued, apparently enjoying the effect his words were having on him. "Surprisingly good considering the virtuous persona she gave off but, _man_ , she sure knew how to put both that tight body and busy little mouth of hers to good use."

Hermione gave a noise of great disgust in his ear. "And to think I used to call him a friend," she muttered, the revulsion clear in her tone, while Steve fended off a renewed attack from Rumlow. "Natasha's secured the payload, Steve; you'll have back up soon. Just keep him busy."

Steve certainly felt that he was living up to that suggestion as he just avoided a blow to the chin and managed to land one on Rumlow's neck. The other man staggered backwards, wheezing a little, and Steve felt a spark of optimism, but then he realised that Rumlow was laughing.

"I've just realised why she's not here," he rasped. "She's knocked up, isn't she?"

Steve didn't know how to react to the question but something in his posture or expression must have given the truth away because Rumlow said, "Are you sure the kid's yours? Old habits die hard after all."

The filth that Rumlow was spouting was still disgusting but Steve found that it was no longer as distracting. Perhaps Rumlow noticed because he punched Steve in the chest and pinned him against the wall, saying, "At least with this being recorded, your spawn is gonna be able to see how you died: this is for dropping a building on my face." A huge blade suddenly protruded from Rumlow's fist and he slammed it into the wall where Steve's head had been a split second before. With Rumlow's hand temporarily stuck in the wall, Steve elbowed him in the head and used the momentum to force the gauntlet off Rumlow's arm – not that this made him much less dangerous.

"You got what you deserved," Steve claimed, as Rumlow released a matching blade from his left gauntlet and made a swipe at his chest. Steve dodged it, landed a few blows to Rumlow's face and then propelled him backwards with a roundhouse kick.

Rumlow rolled to his knees and threw his helmet to one side, breathing heavily. Steve approached him and angrily grabbed the front of his armour. When he saw how heavily scarred Brock's face was, he paused and he heard Hermione gasp in his ear. "I think I look pretty good, all things considered," Rumlow said lightly.

"Who's your buyer?" Steve asked him aggressively.

"You know, he knew you," Rumlow said with a sneer, "Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

Steve started in surprise. "What did you say?"

"He remembered you. I was there," Rumlow explained, and Steve felt his insides run cold as blood pounded in his ears. "He got all weepy about it. Til they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me, 'Please tell Rogers; When you gotta go, you gotta go.'…" There was almost a sympathetic look on Rumlow's face and Steve was lost in his own thoughts. He was aware of Hermione saying something in his ear and Rumlow's face suddenly sporting a sneer again. "And you're coming with me."

Steve noticed the detonator of Rumlow's explosive vest too late. He saw Rumlow activate it and he knew he was going to die…

Hermione's voice screamed in his ear as the flames appeared and Steve flinched in anticipation of the impact.

Time stopped.

Then, with a shock of adrenaline, Steve realised that it wasn't time that had stopped: it was the explosion. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Wanda was focusing all her efforts on using her abilities to keep the blast contained. Rumlow yelled as the inferno incinerated his body and Steve staggered backwards a couple of steps.

In an attempt to move the danger away from the people in the market, Wanda flung the explosion upwards. But, in doing so, she lost her control of it and the full force of the detonation was released. There was nothing Steve or anyone else could but watch as the explosion tore through a building that he hadn't even realised was there. He stared, aghast, as smoke and flames poured through the shattered windows.

"The emergency services are on their way," Hermione informed him, her tone unreadable.

"R-right," he murmured, still a little dazed. He could only bear to look at Wanda's horrified expression for a brief moment before he started to move to the building to do whatever he could to help.

* * *

Hermione took the remaining seat at the head of the table to join Rhodes, Natasha, Steve, Sam, Vision and Wanda. Or, more accurately, she eased herself into it with some difficulty thanks to her large stomach. However, she found the seat so uncomfortable that she had to make some magical alterations before she could give their guest her full attention. After all, it wasn't every day that the Secretary of State came for a visit – even if you were an Avenger.

She saw that Thaddeus Ross (the newly appointed Secretary of State) was watching her mistrustfully and a feeling of unease settled in her stomach. In fact, the whole meeting and the atmosphere in the room was making her somewhat anxious and she took a couple of deep breaths to get her nerves under control. Steve and Sam were sat either side of her and they both noticed her controlled breathing, but she waved away their looks of concern.

Ross cleared his throat and sighed noisily. "Three years ago I had a heart attack," he told them, raising his arms in an imitation of playing a golf shot, "and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because, after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army had never taught me: perspective." His tone was much lighter than Hermione had anticipated but she knew that Ross hadn't come there to make friends with them. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives but, while a great many people see you as heroes," he paused (and his tone certainly wasn't so light anymore), "there are some who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

"What word would you use, Mr Secretary?" Natasha posed.

"How about _dangerous_?" Ross replied instantly. "What would _you_ call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

Hermione opened her mouth to passionately defend her team against Ross's attack but a sense of caution made her close it again. After finally showing Tony all she could about her time in the wider galaxy, Hermione had increasingly spent her days informing Washington and other prominent governments about the credible threat Thanos posed and lobbying for their support and backing should the worst happen. She'd been doing her best to warn them that it was probable the Avengers would not be able to take on Thanos on their own (despite the many preparations and ceaseless work she and Tony were doing) and greater cooperation was going to be needed across nations to protect the planet.

The world of politics was a rather unfamiliar one for her but she eagerly took up the challenge. It was a slow process with a lot of talking and, seemingly, little achieved, but she had told herself that initially it was about opening up the lines of communication. A lot of her meetings and discussions took place via video conferencing (on extremely secure channels) because she was unable to travel too far too often in her condition. But even meetings she had in person had to be done so with the utmost secrecy – partly because of the sensitive subject matter but also to protect her identity. Having the name 'Hermione Rogers' released to those in the know wasn't quite as daunting as it would have been as releasing 'Hermione Granger' and she knew she had to give a little away to those she was hoping to work with in order to get them to trust her. The look of polite surprise on the faces of the people she met when they found out she was the Sorceress was always somewhat amusing – especially when they saw her baby bump – and she was even fortunate enough to spend a few extremely top secret minutes with President Ellis. She suspected the meeting was set up more as a 'thank you' for when she had saved his life in Miami but she didn't waste the opportunity to put her views across. The President had seemed on board with her suggestions and Hermione had enjoyed a good relationship with the previous Secretary of State. If _he_ had said such cutting things about the Avengers, Hermione absolutely would have retaliated, but, with Ross, Hermione didn't know where she stood yet. And, if there was one country she needed on her side, it was the United States. She was extremely lacking in experience when it came to muggle politics but even _she_ knew that if she had the backing of Washington, a lot of other countries would follow suit.

There had been no warning before Ross had suddenly been appointed Secretary of State but Hermione had definitely sensed that the winds were changing; things had been moving along in a positive direction until Lagos. Since the incident in Nigeria, less people had been taking her calls, meetings had been cancelled, and now there was this meeting with a new Secretary of State who seemed to fear the very people that wanted to protect both him and the rest of the world.

On the screen behind him, Ross showed images of the devastation that had occurred during their battles in DC, Sokovia and Lagos. It was a cruel way of driving home his point but Hermione took great offence to his tactics and the impact the images were having on Wanda. She could contain herself no longer.

"With all due respect, Mr Secretary," she began courteously, "if you think that we don't carry the consequences of our actions with us wherever we go, then your assessment is a little wide of the mark." Ross opened his mouth to respond but she continued before he got the chance. "And I know that our regrets don't help anyone, which is why, since Sokovia, Stranger Enterprises has been going into the areas affected to provide short and long term aid." She glanced over at Tony, (who was sat slightly apart from the group) expecting him to back her up, but he seemed much more interested in looking at the floor.

"That's not enough," Ross replied shortly. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate," he announced gravely.

"Two and a half," Hermione interrupted, unable to stop herself.

Ross looked at her with confusion. "Excuse me?"

"It's been two and a half years since the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D and the World Security Council," she explained, "that's who many of us were answerable to."

"This is hardly the time to split hairs, Mrs Rogers," he advised. "Something needs to change and I think we have a solution." He placed a thick document on the table in front of Wanda, announcing it as, "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by one hundred and seventeen countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organisation. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only _when_ and _if_ that panel deems it necessary."

Hermione stared at the large wad of paper uncertainly. What did all of this mean? Even though she was dreading the possible implications, her curious nature also meant that she was itching to read exactly what the treaty said.

Steve was not taking the news, or the Secretary of State's tone, well. "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that," he pointed out.

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked. At Steve's silence, he added, "If I misplaced a couple of thirty-megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences." He addressed all the other occupants of the table as he returned to the front. "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works." He caught Hermione's eye. "My predecessor informed me of your new diplomatic work. The UN want to support the Avengers but, after Sokovia and Lagos in particular, they need to know they can trust you. If you want to keep the lines of communication open, you'll sign. And, believe me, this is the middle ground."

Hermione stared at him. Were the Sokovia Accords really the results of her diplomacy or would the world's governments be seeking to control the Avengers regardless?

"So, there are contingencies?" Rhodes asked.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords," Ross informed them. "Talk it over."

Ross nodded at them all and moved towards the exit before Natasha posed a final question. "And if we come to a decision you don't like?"

Ross paused. "Then you retire," he explained shortly and walked out the door without looking back.

The abruptness of the news, of the potential end to their respective careers, left a somewhat stunned silence behind him. Hermione tiredly put an elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. This shouldn't have come as a surprise. For months, certain areas of the public and, in particular, the media had been calling on the international community to create a system of accountability for the Avengers. Hermione had hoped that the work of Stranger Enterprises, Stark Industries and her personal ventures into diplomatic politics would let people see the good they were doing, how they were trying to make amends. But, as a lot of her work was done discreetly, the rest of the world didn't know about it and, apparently, it wasn't enough.

Despite _everything_ she'd done, it still wasn't enough…

A sweeping wave of exhaustion and emotion threatened to spill over and she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent any tears from falling. She needed to be strong for the team; crying over the Accords when she hadn't even read them yet wasn't a great display of resilience. Her pregnancy was, of course, mostly to blame for how she was feeling lately. It was a vicious cycle: her discomfort and frequent toilet breaks meant that she slept poorly, and this fatigue made her more emotional, which in turn made her more tired. But she was also aware that things had been more difficult since Lagos.

It had been just over a month since the incident in Nigeria but Hermione still hated to think about it. Wanda (and Steve, to a certain extent) had come back deeply changed by the event and Hermione had done all she could to reassure her and rebuild her confidence. Both Wanda and Steve blamed themselves for the loss of life and Hermione hated that they were punishing themselves for actions that had meant to save people.

Hermione may have been on the other side of the world when Rumlow's plot had taken place but she, too, had been left a little scarred by the experience. For a moment, she had thought she was witnessing Steve's death and it was the most terrifying feeling she had ever experienced. Of course, if she hadn't _insisted_ on following their mission she wouldn't have known how close she'd come to losing him and now, for the first time, she found herself truly realising just how easy it would be for something deadly to happen to take him away from her. In their roles as Avengers, every day had always had the potential for danger. Hermione had even already grieved for Steve before thanks to Thanos and his lies. But, ever since Lagos, she had been increasingly insecure that something was going to happen to him; that Steve was going to die and leave her and the baby all alone.

Steve had soon noticed that she was far more clingy and apprehensive around him; that she was crying more often. She'd attempted, once, to blame it purely on the pregnancy (and she was sure that it _was_ a hugely contributing factor) but she'd felt like she was deceiving him by not admitting that it also stemmed from his near-miss in Lagos. He'd looked extremely guilty and apologised for the twentieth time for allowing himself to get distracted, which made her feel terrible and burst into tears _again_. She'd honestly lost count of the number of times she'd cried in the last few weeks: ranging from ridiculous things such as Steve picking up the wrong type of potato salad from the store or a video clip of kittens, to the more serious fears including that she wouldn't be able to look after their child, that they still had no idea whether they were going to be Avengers after having a family, oh, yes, and the minor prospect of Thanos coming along and wiping out the planet!

It was almost a miracle that she was a functioning human being and she gave all the credit to Steve and her wonderful, supportive friends for keeping her sane and safe. But now, there were these Accords to deal with – well, after another damn toilet break…

By the time she returned, everyone had moved into the lounge area. Steve was looking through the Accords with a very stony expression on his face, Sam and Rhodes stood behind him, arguing, and Tony lay on the chaise with a hand covering his face.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honour," Rhodes pointed out to Sam, "which is one more than you have."

"So let's say we agree to this thing," Sam proposed, as Hermione awkwardly lowered herself into a seat next to Natasha. "How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this," Rhodes reminded him. " _One hundred and seventeen_ , Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam accused.

"I have an equation," Vision announced, drawing everyone's attention.

"Oh, this will clear it up," Sam said with mock-certainty.

"In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially – magic excluded," Vision added, with a nod to Hermione. "And, during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve questioned.

"I'm saying there may be a causality," Vision clarified. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict," he paused, "breeds catastrophe. Oversight… Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom," Rhodes muttered, giving Sam a small look of triumph.

"Tony," Natasha glanced over at him and he removed the hand that was covering his eyes. "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal," she observed.

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve accused.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony agreed, sitting up with a wince. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain," he said, walking over to the kitchen area to make himself some coffee. "It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" he asked agitatedly as the rest of them watched him silently. "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

Tony took out his phone and tapped on it to project a photograph of a young man. He said nothing for a few moments while they all looked at the man in the photo. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way," he said with a false air of casualness. "He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service." His voice became more agitated again. "Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what _I_ would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend _his_ summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? _Sokovia,_ "he said emotively and Hermione's heart clenched painfully. "He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were _kicking ass_." He took a large gulp of coffee before turning back to the group. "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check," he said firmly. "Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept the limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up," Steve argued.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony shot back.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions," Steve maintained. "This document just shifts the blame."

"I'm sorry, Steve," Rhodes said, shaking his head. "That is _dangerously_ arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D, it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change," Steve pointed out.

"That's _good_ ," Tony argued. "That's why I'm here. When I realised what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."

"Tony, you _chose_ to do that," Steve reminded him. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." He looked around at the rest of the group. "What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we _need_ to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later," Tony claimed seriously. "That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

"You're saying they'll come for me," Wanda stated.

"We would protect you," Vision assured her.

"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha announced unexpectedly and everyone looked at her in surprise. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off –"

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam interrupted, looking a little incredulous.

"I'm just…" she struggled to find the words, "I'm reading the terrain," she explained, looking at Steve almost apologetically. "We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"Focus up. I'm sorry," Tony said, pointing to his head. "Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?"

"Oh I want to take it back now," Natasha murmured.

"No, no, no, you can't retract it," Tony claimed. "Thank you. Unprecedented." He looked around victoriously and then his gaze landed on Hermione. He looked as though he was trying to figure out her take on it. "Speaking of people being abnormally quiet," he began, drawing everyone else's attention to her. "This is what all your hard work has been for, hasn't it?"

She gave a wry smile. "Has it?" she questioned. "I'm not sure that seeking the backing of the world's governments and being controlled by them is quite the same thing."

"It's a compromise, like Ross said," Tony reminded her.

Hermione gave him the smallest of nods, aware that Steve was watching her closely. "I think we always need to look at the bigger picture," she suggested, "at how this affects our preparations to deal with Thanos. After months of lobbying for their help, if we didn't sign the Accords, we might as well give up right now. My contacts already started to distance themselves before this document came out. If I don't sign, I expect no one will listen or work with me. And, after everything that's gone before, that's not an option for me."

Steve shook his head and she felt her stomach clench.

"I'm sorry if I've disappointed you," she began but he interrupted her.

"No, it's not that; you could never disappoint me," he claimed and then he sighed. "I just think you believe that because you haven't read the stipulations yet." A feeling of dread settled in her stomach as Steve opened the booklet up again and began to read aloud. " _Any enhanced individuals who do not sign will not be allowed to participate in any national or international conflict nor may they participate in missions undertaken by the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D, or any other intelligence organization. Enhanced individuals, including members of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D agents, will no longer have the authorisation to cross international boundaries at any time they wish. They must be given clearance by either a nation's government or the United Nations subcommittee before taking any action in that country, either on their own or as a part of an organization._ "

"Sounds perfectly reasonable," Rhodes stated.

"So far," Sam added and Steve continued to read.

" _If an enhanced individual takes unauthorised action or obstructs the actions of those acting in accordance with the Accords, they will be arrested. Enhanced individuals who break the law, violate the Accords or_ are otherwise deemed to be a threat to the general public _may be detained indefinitely without trial."_

Wanda's eye widened a little and Sam looked at Tony accusingly. "Well, that's obviously about the bad guys and criminals," Tony defended, "Not…" he looked over at Wanda and struggled to find the appropriate words. When he couldn't, he frowned and Steve read on.

" _Any enhanced individuals with innate powers who agree to sign the Accords must submit to a power analysis, which will categorize their threat level and determine potential health risks. All enhanced individuals with innate powers who agree to sign the Accords must wear tracking bracelets at all times. Any enhanced individuals who agree to sign must register with the United Nations and provide biometric data such as fingerprints and DNA samples."_

Hermione felt like she'd been punched in the gut. DNA samples? Tracking bracelets? She looked at Tony. "Did you know that was in there?"

"You're reading too much into it," he responded. "They're not going to do anything with your DNA and test results."

"You can't possibly know that," Steve said.

"Not with one hundred percent certainty, no," Tony agreed but then he refocused on her. "You need to get back to the bigger picture, remember? Are these not sacrifices you're willing to make in exchange for protecting the world from Thanos?"

"If you sign this, you can't edge around or manipulate the rules to your favour like you normally do," Steve warned. "It's here in black and white."

She glanced between the two men uncertainly. A quick jab in her ribs diverted her concentration and she inhaled sharply at the unexpected pain. She glanced down at her belly but, unsurprisingly there was nothing to see. A few looks of concern met her gaze but she shook her head. "I'm fine," she insisted, then winced again, "I think Pickle's just on the move."

Somehow, she had been able to forget for a moment that she was pregnant; that her life – and Steve's – was already set to be completely turned upside down very soon. Her decision about whether or not to sign the Accords was now even more complicated and, judging by the way her friends were staring at her stomach, many of them had realised too.

Did she do what was best for her conscience, her marriage, her new family, the Avengers, magical kind or the fight against Thanos? Did choosing one path mean that she was turning her back on the other? Was it impossible for her to have it all?

What in Merlin's name was she going to do?

* * *

A/N Thanks for reading - let me know what decision you think Hermione should make!

Anyone else looking forward to seeing Captain Marvel? I've got my fingers crossed that nothing happens in it that'll screw things up for this Sorceress series!

Lil Drop of Magic


	8. Chapter 8

A/N Hi everyone! Thanks for the continued support. It's been really interesting reading your thoughts about the Accords. Let's see what happens!

* * *

Watching Peggy's face light up in delight as she felt the baby move in Hermione's stomach warmed Steve's heart and soothed his soul after what had been a tricky few days. Since the location of Peggy's care had been moved to the UK a few months ago, it had been difficult for them to visit her – especially with the travel limitations the pregnancy had imposed upon Hermione. Steve tried to make the visits as positive as possible but it always pained him greatly to see how frail and confused Peggy was now. He recalled how devastated Hermione had been nearly a year ago upon seeing Peggy for the first time in about two years. Her sorrow had been transmitted to him through the strong grip she'd had on his hand and he'd also sensed a swirl of guilt.

 _I should have made it easier for you to get the potion to her_ , she'd told him wordlessly but, the first chance he'd gotten, he'd reminded her that there was no way she could have predicted the circumstances that would prevent her from helping Peggy for so long.

It had taken a couple of visits for Peggy to remember who Hermione was and Peggy was always her most lucid after she'd had a cup of Hermione's 'special' tea. When Peggy had been moved to the UK and Hermione was going to be unable to deliver the tea every week, she set up a weekly delivery service and rang the nursing home without fail to make sure that Peggy was getting it. Steve suspected that the carers thought Hermione was a little peculiar in her demands but it didn't stop her phoning them like clockwork.

The baby moved again and Peggy laughed. "Ooh, she's a little wriggler!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

" _She_?" Hermione repeated. "We don't know what the gender is yet, Peggy."

Peggy smiled and nodded. "Well, I hope it's a girl." She looked over at Steve. "They've always kept you on your toes, haven't they?"

Steve thought of the women who'd shaped his life: his mother, Peggy, Hermione – and Natasha, too – and he knew he'd been blessed. But Peggy was right; they'd all done things their own way too. "Sure have," he agreed.

Peggy smiled at him fondly and he gently held her delicate hand in his own.

"The next time we see you," Hermione said, easing herself back into her chair, "she or he will probably have arrived."

"How wonderful," Peggy murmured and then she chuckled weakly. "You have no idea how much your lives are about to change." Steve expected that Peggy probably meant that in a positive way but he couldn't help feeling that it sounded like more of a warning. "Do you have everything ready?"

Hermione let out a short breath of laughter and then bit her lip as she shook her head. "Not even slightly," she admitted. Unfortunately, what she'd said was entirely true so Steve caught Hermione's eye and tried to look reassuring.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be fine, dear," Peggy told her. "All expectant new mothers have the same fears. I suspect you're more prepared than you think."

"Let's hope so," Hermione replied. She tried to make her voice light and breezy but she was unable to hide a small grimace, causing Steve to feel a stabbing sensation in his gut. He wished it was possible for him to save her from everything she was going through; all the fear about the baby, the feeling of responsibility she'd taken upon herself in regards to Thanos, all the demons from her past and, more recently, the stress and pressure she was feeling to make the right decision about the Accords. He experienced a lot of those worries himself but he couldn't complain (not that Hermione did either) because he had volunteered for Dr Erskine's procedure. It had been his choice. Although he could never have envisioned everything that choice would lead to, he would still make the same decision every day if he had to. Maybe he was doing Hermione a disservice in lamenting the unfortunate path that life had picked out for her because, after all, she _had_ signed up to S.H.I.E.L.D of her own free will and he doubted she would go back and change that choice if she could.

They were rapidly approaching the end of their first year of marriage and the last twelve months had certainly thrown a lot at them. Every day he strived to be a man that was worthy of her and it galled him that he wasn't always able to offer her the security and peace of mind that she deserved. She'd tried to hide how affected she was by the events in Lagos but he knew her better than anyone, and he could see how upset she was without even having to touch her.

He had vowed to himself to be more careful in the future because he never wanted to be the cause of her tears again – even the hormone related ones, which still made him feel guilty even if they were for silly things. The previous week he had unknowingly eaten the last breakfast pancake in the compound and Hermione had abruptly burst into tears. He'd also accidentally made her cry a couple of weeks ago by suggesting that she stave off the chill she was feeling by wearing her favourite cream jumper but, apparently, it no longer fit her. However nothing, _nothing_ , had made her sob harder than when she'd watched Tony's BARF programme before he took it down to M.I.T last week. Steve would've found Tony's complete inability to cope with Hermione hysterically crying on his shoulder as she had him in a death grip _extremely amusing_ were he not slightly concerned that the electricity was going to be blown throughout the complex due to her erratic emotions.

"I think I saw you on the news this morning," Peggy told him uncertainly, interrupting his thoughts.

"You did?" he asked in surprise and then realised it must be something relating to tomorrow's UN meeting in Vienna and he frowned. "Yeah, you probably did."

Peggy glanced between them. "Things are changing again out there, aren't they?"

"Yes," Hermione admitted somewhat bleakly, for there was no point denying it: once these Accords were ratified, it wasn't going to be the same.

"The UN want to oversee the Avengers," he informed Peggy. "If we agree to it, they're going to call the shots on where we go and what we do, whether we want to or not." Steve had made his thoughts on the legislation abundantly clear from the start. He felt that the majority of the Avengers thought the Accords were a bad idea too – even those that were prepared to sign it.

"Obviously there's a bit more to it. But if we don't agree, we're out," Hermione added, clicking her fingers, "just like that."

Peggy continued to watch them closely. "You don't want to sign it, do you?" she said to Steve.

"No."

Peggy turned her glance to Hermione. "And you think you _should_ sign it, don't you?"

Hermione's eyes flickered to his face for a moment but he already knew her thoughts on the matter; they'd talked of little else since Ross's visit two days ago. "M-maybe," Hermione stammered.

"But what _will_ you do?" Peggy asked them both, looking concerned.

Their eyes met again across Peggy's bed and she gave him the smallest nod, confirming the decision they'd made.

"Nothing," Steve said. "Not yet."

"Not before the baby arrives," Hermione agreed.

They weren't going to sign the Accords before tomorrow but they hadn't ruled out signing them at some point in the future either. It probably wasn't the outcome Ross, the UN (or even Tony) wanted but he and Hermione had agreed that if they were forced to make such a decision, they would give it the due consideration it deserved with all factors considered. For them, that couldn't be achieved in just three days.

In the short-term, Steve's priority was making sure that Hermione and the baby were OK. It was just under a month until Hermione's very approximate due date and if it meant that he had to keep the UN waiting for his final decision then he was fully prepared to do that. And, in the meantime, it would give them both the chance to further negotiate over the terms of the Accords because neither of them was prepared to sign the document in its current format.

For Hermione, there was the huge issue of protecting the existence of magical kind. That morning, she and Steve had met with Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry and (to Hermione, Steve and Harry's annoyance) Draco Malfoy to discuss the Accords and their implications.

"So, the muggles have finally gotten their act together, have they?" Malfoy had said by way of greeting. Hermione had sent him a very flat look.

"Good morning, Malfoy, I'm _so_ glad you were able to make this meeting," she said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, somebody's got to be here to make sure you don't manipulate magical law to your benefit for once," he'd responded and, it may have been Steve's imagination, but he thought Malfoy spoke with less animosity than usual.

After Hermione had given them a summary of the Accords' stipulations, it hadn't taken long for them to home in on the problematic parts.

"The part about DNA and other biometric samples has surely got to be out of the equation," Harry stated and Kingsley nodded his head but Malfoy looked confused.

"DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid," Hermione began to explain but Malfoy cut across her.

"I don't need a Muggle Studies lesson: I just want to know why they shouldn't have it."

"Well, _potentially,_ if they had samples of my DNA they might be able to discover where magic comes from; why some people have it and others don't," Hermione said. "If they find out, they could replicate magic for themselves."

Malfoy's eyebrows nearly disappeared beyond his hairline. "Muggles can do that?!"

"I'm not a geneticist but I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility," she replied. "You don't give muggles enough credit."

Malfoy shrugged indifferently. "Well, I agree with the others. You can't let that happen. I mean it, Hermione. If you can't negotiate that part out of your version of the Accords and you still sign it, the Confederation will have to be informed."

When it came to the tracking bracelet, Harry cast doubt on whether the device would actually work in places with strong magical protections. "Will it even work just being on _you_ all the time?" he added. "You naturally give off a lot of magic now, don't you?"

"I use muggle devices regularly alongside my magic," she responded. "There's a tracker in my Sorceress suit and the mask I wear is capable of recording images like a camera but I have to adapt the flow of my magic for that to work."

"So you're saying that if you didn't adapt your magic the bracelet might not be able to function?" Kingsley asked.

"Possibly," she agreed, "But I reckon I could adapt the flow to _make sure_ that it doesn't."

"Is that a good idea?" Steve questioned. "Don't get me wrong – I hate the idea of wearing the bracelet as much as you do – but if they find out that you're not playing by the rules, there's going to be consequences. You don't want to get on the bad side of the UN over something that might not work anyway."

"These 'UN' people," Malfoy said, with a distinct air of dislike, "What would they do if you broke their rules?"

"If it was a serious violation, the Accords say we could be arrested and held indefinitely," Hermione answered.

"But no muggles are going to be able to detain _you_ , are they?" Malfoy pointed out. "You can just disapparate."

"Well, yes," Hermione agreed, "But then I'd be a wanted criminal; a fugitive."

"But if you transfigured your appearance slightly or took Polyjuice Potion you could go wherever you wanted and they'd never know," Malfoy said. "Or you could live exclusively in magical communities – they'd never find you there."

"And what about Steve and our child?" Hermione posed. "You think I want to raise a family always looking over my shoulder?"

"All I'm saying is that you're lucky the UN don't really hold any threat over you," Malfoy responded. "You don't have to fear them."

"It's not that I fear them," Hermione argued. "I don't want to upset them because I _want_ to work with them: I need their support to stop Thanos."

"Right, the crazy alien who's coming to kill us all," Malfoy murmured, eyebrows raised.

Hermione looked at him testily. "Believe me, Malfoy; if you'd seen what I'd seen, you wouldn't be quite so flippant about him."

"And what if the UN doesn't accept your amendments?" Malfoy asked, ignoring her comment. "What if they won't make allowances for you? What will you do then?"

Hermione pressed her lips together and stayed silent.

"We'll pass that bridge when we come to it," Steve supplied instead.

The meeting came to an end soon afterwards with Hermione pledging to let each of them see a copy of any version of the Accords she considered signing.

Harry and Hermione embraced for a long time before he left and Steve could tell that she was crying. He wished for her sake that she and Harry were able to see each other more often. Steve was comforted that Hermione was well supported by their friends but there was something special about knowing that your best friend was around to have your back.

Perhaps, if things didn't work out with the Accords, they would move to the UK. They surely couldn't continue to live at the Avengers Facility if they weren't Avengers anymore. He tried to envision them having a house together in the countryside like the Potters did and a familiar grey nightmare flashed through his mind.

It might have been a year since Wanda had shown him his fears but it had suddenly become much more relevant. _A grey, empty family, blazing rows with Hermione and an existence that faded away to nothingness…_ He knew that it was just a trick of the mind, that it didn't predict the future, but if he was forced to retire… _who was he_? If he wasn't Captain America, an Avenger, what else was there? He banished those thoughts instantly; he was a husband and would very soon be a father. That was everything he needed to be.

But it was no point remembering that _after_ his decision about the Accords had been made – his duty to his wife and child needed to _inform_ that decision.

Was it irresponsible of him to entrust his fate to the members of the United Nations panel when he would have a child dependent on him? Steve didn't have a problem doing his duty to protect people, but he would be lying if he said he didn't prefer to be the master of his own destiny when it came to putting himself in danger.

The repercussions of violating any of the Accords also worried him. It was part of Steve's very core to stand up if he thought something was wrong. If the panel made a decision he didn't agree with, would he be able to stand aside and let it happen for the price of his own liberty and his family's security? But that worked both ways. If he _didn't_ sign the Accords and something terrible happened, would he be able to stop himself from helping? He'd made a point of ensuring that Hermione knew she had to follow the rules but he was no better really. The only difference was he would barrel straight through the middle while she would skirt around the edge.

And then there were the fears he had for his child. It wasn't just the Avengers who were being asked to sign the Sokovia Accords; every enhanced person the world knew of would be approached. At the moment, it was entirely voluntary to sign but Steve doubted how long that would remain the case. Once all the willing signatories had been collated, people would start asking about the ones that hadn't signed, that _hadn't '_ co-operated'. The public, the media, maybe even the UN themselves, would assume that those individuals were the 'bad' ones and something needed to be done to keep an eye on them. It would turn into a witch hunt. Steve could see exactly how it would play out and there was a realistic chance that his child would be a part of it. He was fully expecting to find out that their baby would be born inside the regulations of what the Accords specified to be 'enhanced'.

Dr Erskine's serum had altered his DNA. Any children that Steve fathered would inherit that same DNA. Hermione told him that nobody knew for sure _exactly_ how magic was passed on to some children and not to others but it was highly likely that any of _her_ children would be magical too. A witch or wizard with super-strength was potentially the most 'enhanced' human there had ever been on Earth – especially if they picked up any of Hermione's recent wandless abilities.

Whether enforced registration of enhanced individuals came to pass or not (and Steve strongly suspected it would) he knew that people like Ross, people who were scared of those with abilities, would be keen to know whether Baby Rogers took after their parents. Would their child be safer kept hidden far out of reach or would it better if he and Hermione could keep an eye on the system from the inside? He didn't want his child to be on any sort of list that would make others fear them…

There were so many factors to take into consideration when it came to the Accords, and the pressure of trying to do the right thing (whatever that really was) was starting to weigh heavily on him - on them both. Peggy seemed to sense this because her eyes watered and she squeezed each of their hands tightly. "Oh, my dears," she murmured. "I wish there was something I could do to help you."

Hermione sent her a grateful smile. "Maybe we're making things out to be worse than they really are," she reasoned. "We're hardly the first people to be put in a difficult position – it must have happened to you, too." Peggy tilted her head slightly, showing there was some truth to Hermione's words.

"We're heading out to Vienna tonight," Steve informed her. "We want to show the UN that we're not saying 'No' - that we're willing to negotiate a version of the Accords that we can agree to. You got any advice after all your years in diplomacy?" he requested.

Peggy thought about it for a moment and her expression seemed to hold more sharpness and awareness in it than Steve had seen for months. "Compromise where you can," she told them. "But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, _No, you move_ …"

* * *

Hermione couldn't help clutching Steve's hand tightly in an effort to keep her anxiety in check. It was still unusual for her to be in a room with so many other people and she was keenly aware that it was important that she left the men and women here with a good opinion of herself. It would not do well to lose control of her magic in front of the UN with the world's media waiting outside.

A few of the faces in the room were familiar but plenty weren't, and she was very aware that she and Steve were attracting a lot of attention. It could be that some of them objected to their presence at the ratification when they were unwilling to sign it, but Hermione suspected that it was more likely that they were surprised to find out that she was the Sorceress and, not only that, but she was married to Steve Rogers and heavily pregnant, too. She and Steve had done a good job of keeping their private lives _private,_ and the people in the room may be hugely influential in diplomatic terms but apparently it didn't stop them from turning into a crowd of gossips.

Her recent meetings and discussions with governments hadn't quite prepared her for such an assembly but she was still more experienced than Steve, which was why she was doing most of the talking. She soon found that she was saying much the same thing to each person they encountered and it was with some relief that they eventually made their way over to Natasha, who was there to officially represent those of the Avengers that had already signed the Accords: Tony, Rhodey, Vision and Natasha herself.

"God, I'm glad you guys are here to be the focus of most of the attention," Natasha murmured, looking noticeably less comfortable than she normally did. "And I also don't have to worry about saying something stupid in front of you two."

"Why, what have you said?" Steve asked.

"Nothing yet," she replied, "It's just unsettling to have people scrutinise each word you say."

"You've already signed the Accords," Hermione reminded her, "You've got nothing to worry about. If anybody's being judged right now, it's us."

Natasha covertly glanced around the room. "Well, maybe a little," she agreed. "But I also think you're doing the right thing in being here; it's much harder for them to judge the real life people in front of them compared to the legends they've been hearing of for so many years. You two look deceptively normal when you're not wearing your super suits, and that will probably jerk them back to the reality that, at the end of the day, they're dealing with real people." She smirked down at Hermione's stomach. "With real lives. I think you've helped put things into perspective."

"Thanks, Nat," Steve said warmly. "It's good to know you're still in our corner."

" _Always_ ," she said with a certainty that warmed Hermione's heart. "No piece of paper is going to change that."

Hermione sensed a figure moving towards them and she turned her head. With a shock, she realised that Prince T'Challa of Wakanda was approaching.

Of the twenty-six people killed in the explosion in Lagos, eleven had been from Wakanda. In response to the tragic events, T'Challa's father, King T'Chaka, had been at the forefront of the calls for a system of accountability to be put in place.

"This is the sort of spotlight I think none of us are used to," T'Challa greeted, his voice softer than Hermione had expected. He had an athletic figure which was mostly hidden beneath his well-cut suit, but the way he held himself – refined, but not arrogant – would leave no doubt in anyone's mind that this was a man of importance.

"Well, it's not always so flattering," Natasha responded politely, not finding it too difficult to smile at the handsome prince.

"You seem to be doing all right so far," he reassured her and then turned his gaze to Steve and Hermione. "Your presence has caused quite a stir," he noted. "It is not often that my father is upstaged."

Hermione felt her stomach drop out of her body and her expression must have become a little panicked at unintentionally causing offence to the Wakandan king because T'Challa chuckled slightly and held up a hand to stop her from gabbling an apology. "I am merely teasing you, Mrs Rogers," he revealed. "My father is a man more concerned with actions than pageantry."

"We hope to work closely with him should the UN allow us to negotiate an amendment of the Accords in a few weeks' time," Steve told him but T'Challa's expression became conflicted.

"You don't approve of all this?" Natasha asked in surprise.

"The Accords, yes. The politics, not really," he explained. "Two people in a room can get more done than a hundred."

"Unless you need to move a piano," a voice interrupted. The arrival of King T'Chaka caused another wave of nervousness to sweep through Hermione but she did her best not to let it show.

The father and son greeted each other with smiles but King T'Chaka's expression became serious when he turned to the three Avengers. "Ms Romanoff," he greeted civilly, "Captain and Mrs Rogers."

"King T'Chaka," they replied in turn, inclining their heads as a show of respect.

"Please, allow me to apologise for what happened in Nigeria," Steve said humbly.

"Thank you," King T'Chaka replied. "Though I wish your remorse at the tragic event would extend to a willingness to sign the Accords."

"Our deep regret at the recent loss of life has no bearing on our inability to sign the Accords at present," Hermione told him earnestly.

King T'Chaka gave a slow nod and a look of understanding showed on his face. "Impending parenthood is a time of great uncertainty," he agreed, "Especially for those to whom people look for leadership and guidance. The added responsibility to make the right decisions, both for your child and for those you already seek to protect, takes some adjustment." He glanced fondly at his son for a moment. "But it is also a great honour. I understand why you consider yourselves unable to commit to the Accords at such a tumultuous time in your private lives. I have faith that you will both see the good the Accords will bring in the coming weeks and then we will be able to become truly reconciled."

Oh, how Hermione hoped that were true. She hated the idea of being split between her different responsibilities. She couldn't protect her family, magical kind or the rest of the people of this planet if they all wanted different things from her. To say that she was frustrated by the Accords was an understatement. Even while she was still a child, she had tried to stop bad things from happening in the world and now it felt like the world was coming up with convoluted ways to stop her from doing that. People were scared, she understood that, but that didn't make her feel any better for the strain the Accords were putting on her work, her friendships, her health and even her _marriage_. For, as much as Steve was here, showing his co-operation, Hermione knew that he had no desire to sign the Accords. His strength of character and convictions in his beliefs were some of the things that Hermione loved most about Steve but the idea that their future careers might be stepping in opposite directions greatly worried her. He'd said that he could never be disappointed in her but if she agreed to work with the UN despite all their shared reservations (and he didn't) she couldn't help but picture the look on his face if she were ordered to do something that he thought was wrong. Steve was her rock; a source of great strength to her. If that support started to crumble away…

But that was her fear and anxiety talking. Steve had never given her a reason to doubt him. From the first few days they'd known each other and he'd been willing to compromise his morals by agreeing to keep her secret, through their eighteen months of separation when he'd never given up hope, the unwavering support he'd shown her in her weakened mental state upon her return, right up to the present in the UN Assembly where he was trying to put his family first in his decision regarding the Accords, Steve had _never_ let her down.

She felt a tightening of her fingers and she recalled with a moment of disquiet that her hand was in Steve's, which meant he'd have felt some hints of her feelings and emotions. He removed his hand from hers and put it round her waist. To King T'Chaka, it probably looked like Steve was displaying solidarity with his wife, but Hermione knew it was him trying to discreetly comfort and reassure her.

" _If everyone could please be seated,_ " a voice announced over the speaker system, " _This assembly is now in session._ "

"That is the future calling," T'Challa told them, looking hopeful. Hermione and Steve bade polite farewells to King T'Chaka and T'Challa, wished Natasha luck in her role as an official Avengers representative and then moved towards the rear of the room. Someone dashed to get Hermione a chair and she gratefully sat down as the assembly's initial introductions got under way.

Steve crouched down next to her. "Are you OK?" he asked, "Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine," she assured him, kissing him quickly while everyone's attention was elsewhere. "Thank you."

He nodded and then turned his gaze to the centre of the room where King T'Chaka had stepped up to the podium.

"When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon, we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy," King T'Chaka began and then Hermione realised with great annoyance that she _wasn't_ quite OK. She tried to ignore the feeling and just listen to the speech. "Those men and women killed in Nigeria were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows." With a sigh of exasperation, she realised that it was no good. She reached up to grip Steve's arm so she could raise herself back to her feet. He looked at her in concern but she merely grumbled, "Code 9-1-5-5," to him and a look of understanding came across his face. "I'll be back in a minute." She very much rued the timing of her toilet-dash at the exact moment of King T'Chaka's speech but she considered it would be much more embarrassing to wet herself in the middle of a UN Assembly. She tried to discreetly make her way to the exit, which was not easy to do when you were the size of a baby elephant.

She was just a few steps from the door when T'Challa shouted, "Everybody get down!" and an explosion tore through the room.

* * *

A/N Hopefully it won't be long until another update. Obviously, in my version of the MCU, Peggy isn't dead :)

Let me know what you thought of the chapter - or Captain Marvel! (I loved it!)

Just a month to go to Endgame now! How exciting/terrifying!

Lil Drop of Magic


	9. Chapter 9

A/N Hey guys! It's only been a relatively short wait this time. Yay!

* * *

Even though he was enjoying a coffee and a pastry over a mile away, Sam still heard the explosion. He put the mug down at once and hurried out of the door to determine where the blast had come from. He already had a strong suspicion, of course, but he sincerely hoped that he was wrong. Unfortunately, the black smoke rising from the south appeared to confirm his fears and he quickly set off in that direction.

It was only when he'd been running for a couple of minutes that he considered that, thanks to his unwillingness to sign the Accords, the assistance he intended to give could be unlawful.

He'd only journeyed to the UK and then on to Vienna to enjoy the convenience of travelling via quinjet one last time. Once the Accords were ratified, he, Steve and Hermione were due to travel back to the States on a civilian aircraft, something he was not particularly looking forward to (which had amused Natasha to no end and she had spent the last couple of days constantly teasing Sam that he could have all the legroom he wanted if he just signed the Accords). He'd had no intention of attending the UN assembly; he knew he wasn't really in the same league as Steve and Hermione when it came to superhero status and he was perfectly comfortable with that – especially when it came to the expectations and pressure they faced over the Accords. His refusal to sign hadn't ruffled as many feathers as the refusals of Captain America and the Sorceress. Sam was perfectly capable of making his own informed decisions but he was also happy to take his cue from Steve. Besides, he thought you'd have to be pretty stupid to do something that Captain America thought was so wrong. That didn't mean that he'd never sign it though. He just didn't feel he was in a position of influence to negotiate with the UN like Hermione and Steve were.

It would suck not to be part of the team anymore and it had come about so suddenly that he had no idea what his immediate future looked like: where he was going to live, where his income would come from, whether he would have to surrender the Falcon suit…

There had been no talk of any of that yet but Sam knew it was only a matter of time. With the UN panel overseeing decisions regarding the Avengers, he doubted they'd be happy for the advanced tech to be in the hands of a non-signatory.

And how would they feel about him aiding in this incident? As he came upon the site itself (and received the confirmation he'd been expecting that the Assembly had been the target) he doubted that the UN would mind that much if they were the very people he was saving.

It had been less than ten minutes since the explosion and the emergency crews on the scene were already cordoning off the area. As he ran forwards, a police officer tried to block his path.

"I can help," Sam said a little breathlessly, hoping the officer understood English. "I'm a soldier and a medic." Neither of those statements were strictly true but he had more than enough experience to help the wounded. "Let me pass, man, I can help!" The officer considered him for a moment longer and then waved him through.

Sam hurried forwards and then saw the full extent of the explosion for the first time. A shock of great fear for the welfare of his friends raced through him at the sight; smoke poured from the entire front side of the building, glass littered the ground around flame-engulfed vehicles. A couple of prone figures lay in the middle of the road and others were being tended to by EMTs. Walking wounded were sat, stunned, on benches and sidewalks as more streamed from the building, coughing and using their bare hands to stem the flow of blood from various cuts.

He headed towards the unattended prone figures but more medical emergency crews ran onto the scene and he turned his sights onto the main building. Were there people trapped inside? He ran forwards, noting all the people that were exiting – or, more accurately, noticing that none of those people were Hermione, Steve or Natasha. He told himself that this was because they were assisting in the evacuation and, normally, he'd have no trouble believing that but when you factored in Hermione's condition…

The steady stream of evacuees had diminished to just infrequent groups of two or three. "Are there still people up there?" Sam questioned them urgently as he reached the entrance. "Is there anyone who needs help?"

"A few," a woman answered. Her previously smart clothes were in tatters and there was a gash on her forehead but she still had her arm supportively around another dazed victim. "Some are beyond help," she added mournfully.

Sam nodded and raced into the building. More people staggered down the stairs and he paused each time to offer his assistance but the victims urged him to help others. When he reached the room where the assembly had been held, he had to cover his mouth to stop himself from inhaling the smoke but it immediately started to sting his eyes. He prayed that Hermione wasn't in the room and peered around desperately.

"Does anyone need help?" he yelled, coughing slightly as he did so. He spotted the gleam of a very familiar head of hair through the gloom and he hurried over to Natasha, who was helping a wounded man to sit up.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, noticing that it took her a couple of seconds to register who was talking to her.

"I'm fine," she eventually said, though she still seemed somewhat dazed, "I got lucky, but Hermione..." She trailed off and a jolt of alarm raced through him. Natasha's thoughts suddenly seemed to become clearer and she looked at him with greater clarity behind her eyes. "I didn't see exactly what happened, but Steve got her out of here quickly and it looked like she was unconscious. You've got to find them - they're going to need you to help her calm down when she wakes up."

It was as Sam had feared but he cast a look around the destroyed room. "I can't just leave these people," he pointed out, gesturing to the people around them that still needed help.

"If Hermione loses control, she could be a danger to herself, the baby and everyone around her," Natasha reminded him. "You've worked with her for months on her mental health, Sam; you might be the only one that can help." He hesitated a moment, his conscience deliberating over what he should do, but Natasha gave him a shove towards the exit. "Go!"

He was resolved on going in search of Hermione but it still didn't feel right to leave all those people. Thankfully, as he hurried down the stairs, more emergency crews passed him going in the other direction.

Out into the street again, Sam called Steve and jogged away to put some distance between himself and the wailing sirens. The dialling tone sounded distorted and then it just cut out. Sam swore softly and then used his watch to try and see if it could link up with Steve or Hermione's location. The screen showed up a match for Steve but then it disappeared, only to return a few seconds later.

"Keep trying to trace him," Sam commanded the device, and selected a function that would give him directions to Cap's vague position. They weren't too far away but the difficulty Sam was having in pinning them down suggested that Hermione's magic was already flaring out of control. If he was going to be of any help, he needed to be there within minutes. He jogged along the road and then spotted what he was after. He swung his leg over the motorbike and silently vowed to return it as he touched his watch against the ignition. A few seconds later, the bike roared to life and he steered it as quickly as he could in Steve's direction.

He was closing the distance surprisingly quickly and he soon saw why: an ambulance came into view, smoke billowing from its engine. Sam weaved through the traffic and came to an abrupt halt next to the smoking vehicle.

"Steve!" he yelled, but there was no one in the back of the ambulance.

"They went in there," a voice with a strong European accent called to him from one of the stationary cars. The woman was pointing to a pizza ristorante and as soon as Sam turned his gaze on the building, a number of colourful sparks caused the windows to shatter. There were alarmed shouts from the rest of the motorists but Sam ran towards the chaos.

He took in the scene the moment he crossed the threshold: a clearly distressed Hermione sat on the floor, Steve clutching at her anxiously, as the EMTs tried their best to calm her despite their obvious fear at the outbursts of magic.

Hermione turned her tearful, panicked gaze on him. "The baby - we don't know - Sam, I can't!" She shuddered and there was a deafening clap of thunder accompanied by a blinding flash of light. The EMTs flinched and exchanged troubled glances as heavy rain started to fall from the ceiling.

Steve looked at him with an expression of helplessness that Sam had never seen before, chilling him far more effectively than the water seeping through his clothes.

Trying very hard to distance himself from the emotion of the situation, Sam removed his jacket and calmly knelt beside Hermione. He held the jacket over their heads to block out the rest of the room.

"Sam," she said in a tremulous voice. She hesitated for a split second and then she touched the tips of her fingers to his wrist. At once, his mind was inundated with all her thoughts and feelings. It was something they had done before when she wanted to share something in her therapy sessions but didn't feel capable or didn't know how to verbalise it. Those previous experiences hadn't been as overwhelming as this and it took him a few moments to absorb everything: her concern that the baby was harmed when she was knocked unconscious in the blast; her panic upon waking causing damage to the ambulance; her inability to control her magic preventing the EMTs from carrying out further checks and, most importantly, that her outbursts of magic were endangering the baby further. "Help me," she pleaded breathlessly.

He nodded. "I know you're scared," he said softly but loud enough to be heard over the raindrops, "but before we do anything else, I just need you to breathe. Like this…" He took a deep breath in and then let it out slowly. Thanks to her maintained touch, he could feel her panicked thoughts at his suggestion that she merely do something so simple so he said, "Hermione, breathe. Do it with me. In… Out… In… Out…" He sensed the intensity of the rain lessening but there was a sudden fluttering of alarm from her as she recalled the troubling situation and the downpour resumed. "In," Sam instructed firmly, "out." He repeated the mantra, his voice growing softer until he saw that she was breathing steadily on her own.

Sam was aware that none of Hermione's previous medical appointments had allowed for any electrical equipment to be used to check on the baby's welfare but it was imperative that her magic be calmed enough for it to take place now in case something was seriously wrong. He only hoped that it was possible.

"If you could see a manifestation of your magic right now, what would it look like?" he asked her gently.

She searched his gaze for a moment and her touch tightened on his wrist. An image appeared in his mind, much more distinct than the thoughts, feelings and impressions that she normally transmitted through her touch. The swirling maelstrom of black energy flashed with bright sparks of a variety of colours and he comprehended how fraught and out of control she considered herself to be.

"I see it," he told her. "It's important that you acknowledge it before you try to control it." She whimpered but he said calmly, "It's OK. You're going to do this because you and your magic are one and the same. You are your magic, Hermione"

"I control it, it doesn't control me," she said, repeating a coping mechanism he'd given her many months ago.

Sam nodded. "You have to believe it."

"I want to," she said earnestly.

"It's gotta be stronger than that," he told her honestly. "You can't just want to believe it - you have to and you will because the power is in your own hands. You have the control within you; it's only a matter of implementing it." He could feel a few different thoughts from her, illustrating her continued anxiety, and that image of her dark, fluctuating magic flashed before his eyes a couple of times, but he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "You've got this," he told her in a tone of voice that was far more confident than he truly felt.

Hermione took another deep breath and closed her eyes, removing her hand from his and leaving a strange, echoing emptiness without her touch. However, he took heart from the determined impressions that had started to emerge from her before the contact was broken.

Sam watched her closely as the seconds and the minutes ticked by, his body tense in case he needed to intervene or her magic suddenly lashed out. As nervous as Sam was, he could only imagine the despair and anxiety coursing through Steve. He wanted to reassure his friend but he didn't dare remove himself from the makeshift shelter his jacket was providing incase it disturbed Hermione because, mercifully, she appeared to be gaining control of her magic. The rain had stopped but, more than that, the very atmosphere around them had changed. Sam had now spent enough time with Hermione to be able to sense when her magic was at work: even when she wasn't actively performing any spells, it still practically hummed around her like an aura, tingling against his skin. Now, that sensation had become as minimal as he had ever known it.

Steve could obviously sense it too because Sam heard him murmur, "It's working." The utter relief was evident in his voice. "Thank God."

"Thank God," Sam repeated quietly.

* * *

The baby was OK.

Hermione had only been able to adequately dim her magic for a handful of minutes but it had been enough for the hospital's leading gynaecologist to carry out some vital checks and give them the all-clear for the moment.

Hermione couldn't ever recall experiencing such a potent sense of relief and she could still barely believe the diagnosis - she kept asking Steve to repeat the doctor's exact words.

After completing all the tests that they could, Hermione was transferred to another medical facility on the outskirts of the city so that her magic wouldn't disrupt the hospital equipment that was being used to treat other patients.

Sam had gone back to the scene of the blast to offer his help and Steve looked torn over whether he should go too, but Sam had told him to stay with Hermione. She wasn't at all offended by his inclination to offer his help because it was in his nature - in hers too - and she felt no lingering effects from her ordeal. However, the doctor had advised her bed rest, despite Hermione's explanation that her body healed more quickly than most.

"You've both been through a traumatic experience," the doctor had reminded Hermione and Steve. "You need time to process what has happened. Your blood pressure is too high for you to go gallivanting off somewhere else," he told her, before insisting firmly, "Bed rest."

"Of course you guys need to rest," Natasha had said incredulously on the other end of the phone as Hermione and Steve had waited to be transferred. "The emergency crews have got this."

"And what about you?" Hermione asked her.

"What about me?" came the puzzled response.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Hermione pressed.

"I told you, I got lucky - I'll be fine," Natasha said exasperatedly.

"Well, Sam will be there soon to make sure," Steve added.

"I can't wait," she said dryly, and Hermione could picture Natasha rolling her eyes. "I'll come and see you when I can, alright? Stay out of trouble."

"Believe me, trouble is the very last thing I want," Hermione replied and Steve sent her a look that plainly agreed with her. "Just… if you see Prince T'Challa, please pass on our condolences."

"Of course," Natasha said sombrely.

Hermione remembered nothing of the blast but when she saw the images of the scene for the first time in her isolated hospital room, she wasn't surprised that the explosion had claimed lives - including that of the Wakandan king. Their awkward conversation had taken place little more than an hour ago but King T'Chaka was now dead. It was unbelievable.

Steve wanted to turn the news off so that it didn't distress her, but Hermione waved him away. "I want to know what's happening," she said. "Over the last few months, I've worked closely with a good number of people in that room. It's not as though we're going to find out any news ourselves - we're not currently employed in that line of work anymore."

Steve's phone started to buzz, preventing him from making a response. "It's Nat," he told her, frowning slightly. It had only been a few minutes since they had last spoken. He answered the call and put it on speaker phone. "Hi," Steve said, "is everything - "

"Are you guys watching the TV coverage?" Natasha cut in abruptly.

"Yes," Steve replied cautiously, sharing a perplexed look with Hermione.

"Do me a favour and turn it off for a moment," Natasha requested.

"Nat, what's - "

"I'll explain, Steve, I promise. Is it off?"

Hermione grabbed the remote control from her bedside table and switched off the screen. "It's off," Steve confirmed. "What's happened?"

"They've got some surveillance footage of the bomber," Natasha informed them. That should be good news but everything felt wrong and Hermione reached out for Steve's hand. "Steve, they've identified the perpetrator as Barnes."

Steve's hand went limp in her grasp and he simply stared wordlessly at the phone. "Are they sure?" Hermione asked.

"I've seen the footage for myself: it's him," she confirmed. "They're about to release it to the media."

Hermione glanced at the blank TV screen. "I see," she murmured and then returned her gaze to her pensive husband. "Thank you for telling us - it's better to have found out this way than see it on the news."

"That's not what this is," Steve said, his voice harder than Hermione was expecting as he gestured to the phone with a deep frown.

"That's part of what this conversation is, Steve," Natasha said defensively. "I'm still very much your friend and I know how much Barnes means to you, I really do, but you have to keep out of this - you'll only make this worse, for all of us."

"Are you saying you'll arrest me?" Steve posed.

"No," she reassured, almost scoffing at the idea but then her tone became serious once more. "Someone will, if you interfere - that's how this works now."

Steve raked a hand through his hair and met Hermione's gaze for the briefest moment before looking back at the phone. "If he's this far gone, Nat, maybe I should be the one to bring him in."

"Why?" Natasha asked despairingly.

"Because I'm the one least likely to die trying," Steve said bluntly.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Natasha replied. "Things are different now and it's out of your hands, Steve: a joint terrorism task force will bring Barnes in. I know how frustrating this is for you but unless you're prepared to be behind bars for the birth of your child, you'd better stay put…" Natasha let that hang in the air for a moment then added, "Now, don't be surprised if you see someone standing outside your door soon."

"To spy on us?" Steve asked gruffly.

"They'll say it's for your protection, but, yes, the powers-that-be will want to make sure you're not interfering," she explained. "It's for the best, Steve."

He looked like he wanted to make an agitated retort but he refrained and said tightly, "Of course," and abruptly ended the call.

Hermione let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and reached out for Steve's arm. He allowed her to comfort him for a few seconds but then kissed her forehead and moved away to stare out of the window.

"I'm so sorry, Steve," she told him earnestly. She knew he'd been searching for signs of Bucky ever since the battle at the Triskelion. To have him emerge here, as the cause of such violence and suffering, was Steve's great fear. No one would be on the Winter Soldier's side apart from him; no one would believe that the man buried inside the HYDRA assassin was redeemable except the man who had grown up beside him so many decades ago. If Steve thought it possible that the real Bucky could be reached, that he could be saved, then Hermione believed him - or, at least, she was prepared to stand by him. The problem was their stance had no authority any more.

The timing of Bucky's reappearance on the very day that Steve's clearance to act was invalidated could surely be no coincidence. Hermione wondered whether Bucky had acted of his own accord to send a message of defiance, or whether he had fallen under the sway of HYDRA again (or another sinister force) and part of their motive behind the attack was to mock Steve's inability to react to his best friend's deeds. Either way, this attack was far more personal than either of them had realised.

"What are we going to do?" Hermione asked him, struggling to swing her legs over the edge of the bed so that she could stand with him. Steve turned towards her and, when he saw what she intended, he stepped forwards to urge her back to her former position.

"What do you mean?" he asked distractedly as he nudged her legs back to the middle of the bed and stroked her back.

"What are we going to do to help Bucky?" she asked.

His face was tense but she could see the pain in his eyes. She reached up to place a hand against his cheek and he closed his eyes, momentarily leaning into her touch. She tried to communicate her love and support through her fingertips and he ducked his head forwards to kiss her wrist. "What can we do?" he asked heavily. "You heard what Natasha said - they don't want me interfering." He reached down and trailed his fingers over her large pregnant stomach. "I won't do anything that will keep me away from you two."

"I know," Hermione told him, "but they'd surely only do that if you did try and bring Bucky in by yourself. There are other ways we can help him. We need to find out who's running the Task Force - we might have some old contacts working there that can get us in touch - and you can offer to advise them; you're still the person that knows Bucky best and we're the last people known to have encountered him, aren't we? Whoever they're sending to bring him in will need all the tactical advice they can get so anyone in their right minds would listen to us, wouldn't they?" Steve was watching her guardedly but she didn't give him a chance to respond. "And I can offer my services to help overcome whatever brainwashing Bucky was subjected to: my knowledge of legilimency could be really useful, couldn't it? And don't forget, we haven't refused to sign the Accords, we've just delayed making our decision - I know they want us to sign so I think that people might be a bit more cooperative in the hopes that it _will_ make us sign, so that gives us a bit of wiggle-room, doesn't it?"

She paused to breathe and Steve covered her mouth with his hand, making her eyes widen in alarm. "Slow down, your blood pressure is too high, remember?" he told her seriously, though there was the hint of a smile on his face. He removed his hand and briefly replaced it with his lips.

"Well, that's not done my blood pressure any good," she told him a little breathlessly.

"I'm sorry; all your different suggestions at this time just reminded me of one of the many reasons why I love you and I couldn't help it," he replied. "I don't know what I've done to deserve you."

Hermione smiled and twined her fingers through his. "You know I feel exactly the same way about you."

"Then I think we're two of the luckiest people in the world," he said truthfully.

"In some respects that's most definitely true," she agreed, letting go of his hand so that she could awkwardly sidle along the bed to create some room for him too. "And in others - particularly today's events - most definitely not true." She patted the space next to her and gave him a reassuring nod when he looked at her questioningly. "We need to think this through before we approach anyone though," she said, back-to-business as Steve toed off his shoes and climbed onto the bed next to her. "If we say the wrong thing to the wrong person, it might mean all the doors are slammed in our face."

As they talked things over, they switched the news back on and saw the damning footage for themselves. It wasn't an image of particularly high quality but Hermione still saw the unmistakable face of the Winter Soldier looming up at her from the screen.

"Maybe they won't find him," Hermione suggested. "You've been searching for years and haven't managed to locate him."

Steve shook his head. "There was only a handful of us then, they've got the whole world on the lookout now. Besides, if he's this dangerous again, he needs to be found before he hurts anyone else."

They renewed their discussion with an increased sense of urgency, only pausing when a nurse came in to check up on Hermione. There was no sign of any added 'security' on their door yet but if Natasha had mooted it as a possibility, they knew it was a matter of time.

Hermione had outlined their suggestions of help onto a piece of spare paper and bullet-pointed some phrases they should say on the phone to come across in a positive light, when there was a sharp knock on the door. It was different to the gentle, rhythmic tap of the nurse and she'd only left the room a few minutes previously. Hermione looked at Steve questioningly, both of them wondering whether this was someone from the Task Force to 'protect' them.

"Come in," Hermione called.

It was Sam - but he wasn't alone. A pretty, blonde woman stepped into the room with him, the letters CIA stamped onto her jacket. So, the Task Force had sent someone after all, but this woman certainly wasn't the sort of person Hermione was expecting.

"Hermione, Steve; this is Sharon Carter," Sam introduced.

"It's an honour to finally meet you both," Sharon said as she shook their hands, "but it would be remiss of me to point out that I've seen you both before - I used to be an agent at S.H.I.E.L.D too."

Hermione blinked in surprise. "Really?"

Sharon nodded. "I did a lot of undercover work so I wasn't at the Triskelion often - my alias was Agent 13."

"You're Agent 13?" Hermione gasped. "I heard so many impressive things about you over the years."

Sharon smiled modestly. "That's very kind of you to say but my achievements pale quite considerably compared to everyone else in the room." Steve opened his mouth to reply but Sharon held up her hand. "Forgive me, but there's little time." She pulled a brown file out from inside her jacket. "Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public. Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. Most of it's noise except for this." She handed the file over to Steve. "My boss expects a briefing any minute so that's all the headstart you're going to get."

Steve frowned down at the folder and then looked up at Sharon. "Why are you doing this?"

Sharon smiled tightly. "Because I know how important your friends are to you and this is just a gesture of my thanks for how I know you've both cared for my great-aunt over the years."

Realisation clicked into place. "Carter," Hermione said softly, with a knowing look at Steve.

"Thank you, Sharon," Steve said earnestly, indicating the file.

Sharon smiled at them tightly. "Whatever you're going to do, you're gonna have to hurry: we have orders to shoot on sight."

A chilling sickness swept through Hermione's body at Sharon's departing words. Had she really been so naive as to think that the Task Force wouldn't seek to stop Bucky by whatever means necessary? Perhaps she'd been removed from a setup like S.H.I.E.L.D for too long, or, more likely, she'd forgotten that while it was comparatively easy for her to apprehend people without such desperate measures, that wasn't the case for others.

Steve didn't look particularly surprised but his jaw was as tense as Hermione had ever seen it and her heart ached for him. She was certain that if it weren't for her pregnancy, Steve would already be making his way to Bucky's location, Accords be damned.

"How are you feeling, Mi?" Sam asked, probably sensing that Steve needed a moment with his thoughts.

"I'm OK," she replied, "Just uncomfortable as ever."

Sam nodded. "Natasha sends her love."

"Does she know about Sharon?" Steve asked.

"No, I don't think so," Sam answered him. "When I saw Natasha she encouraged me to make you keep out of it."

Steve said nothing.

"And she makes a very good point," Sam continued.

"You think I don't know that?" Steve said frustratedly.

"We were going to offer our expertise to the Task Force; tell them what we know about Bucky," Hermione explained.

"Were?" Sam questioned and Steve looked at her sharply.

"Hermione," he began.

"Shoot on sight, Steve," she repeated. "That changes things. You and I both know they'll kill Bucky before they seriously contemplate capturing him, and how many of their forces will be casualties before he's brought down?"

Steve grimaced and walked to her bedside to hold her hand in his. "What about you? My place is with my family."

"Bucky is your family, Steve," she reminded him. "Just as Harry and Ron are mine. If the roles were reversed, I would do anything to protect them and I know you'd back me to the hilt."

"I could go to prison," he pointed out, "just when you need me most."

Hermione willed herself to keep strong. She knew Steve would never forgive himself for not doing everything he could for his best friend and she wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of holding him back. She was scared of the possible consequences - of course she was - but she just hoped it wouldn't come to that. "Only if you get caught," she argued optimistically, and then looked away as her eyes started to prickle with tears.

"Hermione," Steve said tenderly, reaching out for her. She tried to shrug his embrace away but he persisted and a swell of emotion overrode her senses and she clung to him as she let out a few sobs.

"I can't go," Steve sighed heavily.

Hermione extricated herself from his embrace. "They'll kill him, Steve, you know they will." His face twisted in anguish.

"I'll go," Sam declared but Steve shook his head.

"I can't ask you to do that, Sam."

"You've sent me on Barnes leads before," Sam pointed out.

"That was before the Accords," Steve reminded him. "I can't let you do something I wouldn't do myself."

"I don't have a wife and a baby on the way," Sam argued. "And I'm not emotionally compromised by Barnes like you are."

Hermione brushed her last remaining tears away and focused on the brown file that had been left forgotten on her bedside table. "Where is he? If we just stay in here arguing about what to do, it might be too late."

Steve skimmed through the contents. "Bucharest. An apartment in a high-rise residential block."

"That's a single portkey trip," Hermione said, not bothering to point out that it would only take minutes for one of them to get to the Romanian capital. She heaved her legs over the side of the bed.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked her.

"Well, I obviously can't go to Bucharest but I'm not going to sit here and do nothing. I'm going to get in touch with the Task Force, like we planned, and try to convince them to overturn the shoot-on-sight. If they know that there's a chance I can use my magic to break his brain-washing they might retract the order. People don't like saying no to a pregnant woman and you can be sure I'll be using that to my advantage."

Steve moved in front of her and she assumed he was going to help her up but his arms stayed resolutely at his side. "The doctor said you should rest."

She let out a frustrated huff. "A man's life is at stake. And not only is that man my husband's best friend, but it could also be strongly argued that he's innocent of carrying out these crimes if his mind is being influenced by others."

Steve still didn't look happy. "Your blood pressure," he began but she waved him away.

"My blood pressure is going to be high whatever we decide to do over the next few hours - sitting in a bed isn't going to change that," she argued. She turned her gaze to Sam. "Did Sharon mention where the Task Force is based?"

He nodded. "Berlin. That's where they'll take Barnes if they do apprehend him without killing him." He didn't sound particularly optimistic about that possibility though.

Hermione looked at Steve: she could see that he was still facing an internal battle over his course of action, pulled between his devotion to his best friend and his love, duty and loyalty to his new family. "If you end up being arrested for interfering, we'll manage. They'd be stupid to be too harsh on you when they're still hoping you'll sign the Accords." She momentarily settled her hands on her stomach. "Having a heavily pregnant wife might actually be a good thing, make them more lenient on you."

Steve attempted to smile but it was grim and tense. The air suddenly became thick with an outcome that none of them had been brave enough to voice, a consequence that would be so devastating that Hermione refused to even think about it, however willfully foolhardy that might be. "And what if," Steve began tightly but Hermione shook her head sharply.

"That won't happen," she insisted.

"I'll make sure it doesn't, I promise," Sam vowed to her before turning to Steve. "We'll go together - safety in numbers and all that."

Steve gripped his friend's arm tightly. "Thank you, Sam, for everything you've done and continue to do for us both."

Sam nodded modestly and then embraced Hermione warmly. She sighed when they drew apart and looked up at the men with grim determination. "Let's get going," she said firmly. "And who knows - perhaps luck will actually be on our side for once..."

* * *

A/N Somehow, I don't think that luck will be on their side. There is certainly an arrogance and naivety to Hermione and Steve's actions here but, given how much they both value friendship, I still think putting themselves at risk to save Bucky is something they would do - even with Pickle added into the mix. What do you guys think?

This was actually the chapter that I got stuck on for months with my uncertainty before Infinity War. I can't believe Endgame is out in less than two weeks. The next time I update I'll have seen it! Crazy!

Thanks for all your support, guys.

Lil Drop of Magic


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Thanks for all your messages of support and predictions.

Just a little early reassurance that there are no Endgame spoilers here - I've seen it but I won't say anything about what I thought. (You can all tell me what you thought in a review though!)

* * *

Hermione took absolutely no pleasure in confunding the Task Force agent that showed up at the hospital to offer 'protection' just like Natasha had warned. She knew the spell would cause no harm or leave any damage behind but it still left her feeling uncomfortable to perform magic on the young man who was just doing his job.

She used her influence to make him believe that he was to escort her to Berlin to meet those in charge of the Task Force and he was fully under the impression that Sam and Steve were with them the entire time. In truth, the two men had portkeyed to Bucharest before the agent had even arrived at her hospital door.

Thankfully, the young agent was very adept at his job and was able to efficiently see her onto a flight to Berlin with the appropriate clearance of someone working with the CIA and the joint Task Force. There was even a car waiting to pick her up when the plane touched down.

Hermione nervously kept checking her phone for an update from Steve or Sam but after they'd told her they'd located Bucky's empty apartment, all was quiet as they waited for him to return home.

She was having more success on her front, though, after getting in contact with the man who had held the position of US Secretary of State before General Ross. General Cadmus and Hermione had worked very closely for a few months and she had developed a very good relationship with him, which allowed her to pull a few strings with him to not only give her details of those in charge of the Task Force but also to get Cadmus to set up a meeting at the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre building with her posing merely as an asset with knowledge on how to help with the Barnes case.

This vague cover didn't last long once she was inside the headquarters but she didn't intend for it to: she might have needed subterfuge to get herself inside, but there wasn't time to beat around the bush when things could kick off in Bucharest at any moment.

Everett Ross, the Deputy Task Force Commander, didn't look happy to be taking the time out of running his operation to meet with her. "You're the asset Cadmus recommended?" Ross (apparently no relation to the new Secretary of State) asked her impatiently, giving her stomach a long glance.

"Yes, sir," Hermione replied politely, holding out her hand. "Hermione Rogers."

It was obvious that his attention hadn't been focused on her, probably because he didn't see how she could be of any use to him, but the moment her name fell from her lips, Ross stared at her intently and his hand paused in her grasp. "You're… aren't you?" he asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Hermione nodded, knowing what he'd intended to ask. "Yes. I'm here to help."

"Jesus Christ," Ross swore, dropping her fingers and putting his hands on his hips as he frowned at her. "It's been made very clear that you don't have clearance to be involved in anything like this anymore."

"I'm here to offer you advice," Hermione stated calmly, "and my services should you choose to use them."

He gave her stomach another speculative look before glancing at his watch. "Well, that I _can't_ do as you very well know, Mrs Rogers - not unless you've signed that bit of paper since this morning. I'm sorry you've wasted your time." He started to back away from her.

"I can see inside his head," she continued unperturbed and Ross paused. "To my mind, Barnes wouldn't have carried out the attack this morning unless he was under the sway of someone else through his previous brain-washing. If you kill him, you'll have no chance of finding out who's really responsible - the trail dies with Barnes. If you let me try, we could find who's really behind this."

Ross watched her closely, chewing over her words.

"And you do realise that if the Winter Soldier _is_ under someone else's influence, James Buchanan Barnes, the man within, is _not guilty_ of this morning's bombing," she pressed.

Ross laughed with little trace of amusement. "That doesn't make him any less dangerous."

"I am more than aware of that, sir - I encountered him two-and-a-half years ago when he was under the sway of HYDRA and I all but died," Hermione told him.

"And you think I shouldn't seize the opportunity to take down such a deadly assassin?" Ross asked skeptically.

"Please, sir, I'm begging you to do whatever's in your power to keep him alive," Hermione said earnestly. "He's much more useful to you alive than dead."

Ross surveyed her again and Hermione held her breath. He eventually sighed and beckoned for her to follow him, which she did with as fast a waddle as she could manage. "Don't think for a moment that I'm unaware there's a huge personal motivation behind your pleas," Ross muttered as he escorted her deeper into the building. A light frown creased his face as he glanced over at her. "You know, I'm surprised your husband's not here leading the case himself."

Hermione tried to give nothing away as she said, "The two of us coming here together might be viewed as an attempt at intimidation. I'm the one with the skillset to help Barnes in this situation, not Steve."

A figure came running down the corridor towards them, thankfully drawing the attention of Ross away from Steve. "Sir, Special Forces are starting their final approach on the building."

Ross increased his pace and glanced over his shoulder as they entered a large room that appeared to function as their command centre. "Don't touch anything - I'm still not convinced that I should be letting you in here."

"But you'll rescind the shoot-on-sight order," Hermione reminded him. The lack of communication from Steve and Sam was making her anxious - had they already engaged Bucky? Were they still waiting for him to show up? If the German forces were in the tower block too there was a very real possibility that Steve or Sam could be mistaken for Bucky instead. But if Ross followed through, she could get a message to Steve and then he wouldn't need to get involved at all, which was obviously the optimal outcome.

"When I've assessed the scene," Ross answered vaguely and then strode over to a wall that showed various viewpoints of a grubby tower block.

No one was paying her any attention so she quickly retrieved her phone, typing a message as quickly as she could that told the boys of the approaching forces and the possibility of Ross cancelling the use of deadly force. She only hoped that some good would come of her message and they'd get out of harm's way.

"How's it looking?" Ross asked his team as they watched the screens and typed messages on their computers.

"Perimeter has been set," someone replied and Hermione glanced up at the screens. To her dismay, she saw that the German forces were probably less than a minute away from commencing their assault. But worse, far worse than that, was the screen that was showing the output from a thermal imaging camera...

"There are two hostiles in the apartment," Ross said urgently into a microphone on the table in front of him. "I repeat, _two_ hostiles."

One of the figures was Bucky because the thermal image showed the difference in temperature with his metal arm and Hermione knew exactly who the other figure had to be, but they were just standing there, not fighting at all. She had no idea what was going on.

"No," Ross ordered into the microphone, "Proceed. You have the authority to take them both out with whatever means necessary."

" _No!_ " Hermione cried. Her loud shout caused a few heads to turn in her direction.

Ross didn't look particularly sorry for going back on his decision. "The situation necessitates it," he stated.

"No, you don't understand," Hermione said desperately even as the stun grenades were shot through the windows of Bucky's apartment. She raised a trembling finger to one of the thermal figures on the screen. "That's my husband!"

Ross stared at her for a moment, his forehead creased in confusion. "What? But I thought he was…" Realisation suddenly dawned in his eyes and his face contorted with anger. "Are you _shitting_ me?! _Christ almighty!_ " Ross turned back to the screens, seeing with his own eyes the blurred but unmistakable shield of Captain America as it slammed into one of the body cameras worn by the German forces. "Somebody get her the hell out of here," Ross roared, pointing at Hermione without even looking at her.

* * *

Not even bothering with the courtesy of knocking, Tony couldn't resist letting out some of his irritation by pushing the door open with a much stronger force than was necessary. "Didn't you once tell me that you got some of the highest test scores your magic school has ever given out?" he remarked agitatedly in way of greeting the young woman sitting in the bed. "How could you be so _stupid_?"

Hermione glared at him. "They were going to kill him."

"He _bombed_ the _United Nations_!" Tony retorted firmly.

"You know it's not that simple when it comes to Bucky," she argued. "His mind is susceptible."

"You don't have the authority to make those sorts of decisions anymore," Tony reminded her testily, ignoring her justification. "How do you _not_ get that?"

She sighed and looked away from him, her hands resting on her large stomach. "We knew what we were doing," she admitted quietly. "We knew the potential risks."

This did not improve Tony's mood. "So, you were being arrogant and pig-headed, as well as stupid." She continued to stare out of the window and this only irritated him more. His relationship with Hermione was an unusual one and they'd certainly been through their ups and downs. He didn't admit to it often but it was an open secret that he cared for her very deeply but, man, if she didn't push his buttons sometimes! Despite everything that she had been through, she was still burdened with a sense of self-righteousness that often left her unwilling to see the world as it had to be; prevented her from seeing the necessary, hard decisions that people in authority were required to make. She didn't want to see that her, Steve and Sam's actions (which she obviously believed to be fully justified) had serious consequences beyond just the three of them, but he wasn't going to indulge her sanctimonious air - he was going to make her see exactly what she'd helped bring about.

Tony noisily pulled at the chair next to her bed and made a show of sitting down, propping his feet up on her mattress as he took out his phone. "Rhodey sent some images over from Bucharest," he said, flicking the device to bring several stills up above them of a severely damaged tunnel and several wrecked cars. "F.R.I.D.A.Y estimates repair costs of at least half a million dollars. German special forces have reported that seven of their operatives are in hospital, two are critically injured. There also seems to have been some civilian casualties after the frenetic chase through the tunnel - none fatal as far as I know, so that's something, at least."

"I'm not pleased about the suffering others have experienced but you're not going to make me feel guilty for saving a man's life, Tony," Hermione maintained.

"You think that's all that you've jeopardised?" Tony asked, flicking his phone again to dismiss the images. "Let's forget for a moment that Secretary Ross is probably going to demand that all three of you be locked up - " Her eyes flashed to him in concern but he barrelled onwards. "Whatever goodwill your appearance generated at this morning's UN meeting has surely been wiped out by your impetuous actions - months of your hard work and diplomacy thrown away in a moment because _you_ think you know better. You might have won the battle for Barnes's life, but I hope for yours, mine and _everyone's_ sake that it's not going to cost us the war against Thanos."

Hermione flinched at his words but he was pleased to see that she finally showed some comprehension of the damage that she'd done. However, when tears started to show in her eyes, he couldn't prevent his anger from deflating. He knew that, in truth, he was more disappointed in her than angry. Her heart was too big for this life, he'd thought so as soon as he'd met her, and she finally seemed to be realising that she couldn't please everyone despite her best efforts. Compromises had to be made and he had to get her to see that for her own good and for the sake of her new family. Tony knew that, in terms of the Accords, Steve was almost too far on the other side to reach but Hermione was trying her best to have a foot in both camps: if he could get _her_ fully on-side then she could act as a bridge to Steve, and then the Avengers might actually be saved from being ripped apart after all.

But he didn't just see her as a means to an end. The Avengers were a strange, distorted family and Hermione was the heart of it. The prospect of her not being there to have his back, roll her eyes at him or impress him with her dedication left a hollow feeling within him just like he'd experienced when she'd been missing for all those months. She was his little sister in all but blood. He didn't want to lose her again.

"I'm still committed to the fight against Thanos, you know that," she said, her voice shaking a little.

"I'm not the one you need to convince, am I?" Tony replied. "You need to prove you can be trusted - that you'll toe the line - and the sooner the better."

Her anxious gaze hardened, perhaps anticipating where he was heading. "Tony, I _can't,_ " she sighed despairingly. "You know I can't sign the Accords."

"But I know you want to," Tony countered. "If you didn't have your world to protect, I know you'd have signed already."

"That's a moot point and you know it because I _do_ have the magical community to protect," Hermione said irritably. "Malfoy swore that the Confederation would be informed if I signed something that risked magical people and you know how close I came to imprisonment last time."

"You're at risk of imprisonment _now_ ," Tony argued. "You infiltrated a CIA building - "

"Cadmus set up the meeting," she interjected. "That wasn't illegal. Ross invited me in further after I made a genuine offer of my services - an offer that still stands."

"Right, so you're just going to skip over the part where you tricked a CIA agent in Vienna into believing that Cap and Wilson were with you the entire time?" Tony said. "I know you had to have used magic to make that stick."

Hermione pursed her lips together, saying nothing.

"I'm not even going to ask you how you found out about the Bucharest location but I also know you would've used a portkey to transport them across Europe," he accused. "So we can add an unsanctioned crossing of sovereign borders to the charge sheet as well as aiding in an illegal operation that compromised an international task force. Now, you say your arrival in this building was perfectly legal but I'm sure someone like Secretary Ross would argue that you entered under false pretences given your knowledge and choice to deliberately withhold how the operation was set to be disrupted. And, to top it off, you then refused to be escorted from the room."

"You think I was just going to leave when people were attacking Steve?" she asked him as though he was stupid and Tony resisted the urge to hide his head in his hands in disbelief. "I needed to see what was happening! I needed to see that everything was going to be OK."

"Well, it wasn't, was it?" Tony snapped. "You saw your husband and his friends get arrested."

Hermione shook her head, looking troubled. "At least no one died," she said quietly.

Tony shook his head. "I don't understand why you let Steve endanger his life and your liberty like that when, you know..." He gestured to her stomach.

Hermione's eyes searched his face, making him feel uncomfortable. "Do you not have someone in your life that you'd risk everything for?" she asked softly and Tony's level of discomfort increased as her eyes continued to pierce into him.

"I've put my life on the line when there's been no choice," Tony said defensively. "But that's not what this was. There _was_ a choice: if Steve had signed the Accords this could have all been legit," he pointed out. "And it still can be if you guys are smart about this. I haven't heard from Secretary Ross yet but you know he's going to be asking for your heads."

"You think we'll be prosecuted?" Hermione asked, biting her lip.

Tony looked at her seriously. "Secretary Ross dislikes what can't be controlled - not only that, he _fears_ it. And you, above everyone else, probably scare him the most because of your capabilities. If he sticks you in a cell, you can just pop yourself out of it again. The only way he can control you is through others - through those you care about. You've presented him with an opportunity to get just what he wants and don't think that your pregnancy will make him go easy on you."

Hermione looked at him wide-eyed. "And you honestly think signing the Accords, _gifting_ him authority over me and my family, would be the smart thing to do?"

"Friends close, enemies closer," Tony reminded her. "If you're in the system I can watch out for you, protect you. As long as you both toe the line from now on, he can't get anything on you without breaking the terms of the Accords. But if you guys don't sign, I think he'll come down as hard as possible to prove that he can."

Hermione momentarily closed her eyes and let her head fall back onto the pillow. "I can't just pop out of a prison cell right now, can I?"

Tony cleared his throat, his eyes following her hands as they moved over her stomach. "No, I know."

"Does Secretary Ross?" she asked anxiously.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. If Ross knew that formally detaining Hermione now would be a distinct possibility, would he be ruthless enough to do it? Tony liked to think not but the General had gotten where he was today because he was prepared to make those tough decisions. "But I would do everything I could to stop that from happening, kid, I promise."

She blinked rapidly but her face screwed up as the tears began to fall down her cheeks. "W-would they try and take the baby away?" she gasped. "If I go into labour whilst I'm in custody-"

"I won't let it happen," Tony vowed, reaching for her hand reassuringly, but his insides twisted nervously because he didn't know how far Secretary Ross was prepared to go. Tony hadn't meant to upset or scare her but, unfortunately, there were possible consequences that had to be brought to her attention.

She suddenly made an indescribable noise, cutting off her tears, and she looked down at her covered stomach. Tony followed her gaze and felt his jaw drop at the way her tummy was slowly rippling. He'd never seen anything like it and he was equal parts fascinated and disturbed. "Are- are you _sure_ you're not giving birth to an alien?" he asked her, his eyes still following the hypnotic movements beneath the stretched cotton.

Hermione laughed tearfully. "A doctor actually got a good look at Pickle for the first time today and he seemed happy with what he saw."

"That's a relief," Tony said seriously, trying to push every sci-fi clip of alien births he'd ever seen out of his head. They continued to watch the movements of her stomach for a few seconds and then Tony stood up.

"I've got to go," he said. "I need to try and fix this mess."

Hermione brushed her cheeks to get rid of the tracks of her tears. "Where are they now?" she asked, looking over at Tony tiredly.

"They should be touching down in Berlin in the next few minutes," he told her.

"They're not going to let me see Steve, are they?" she said.

"Probably not," Tony agreed. "I expect they think, given an opportunity, you'll cause more mischief together." She smiled weakly. "Natasha will be here soon - I'll send her your way."

"Thank you."

He nodded. He tried to think of something to say but he was aware that she already knew what he thought the solution was. There was nothing more he could do: the ball was in her court now.

He opened the door with a lot less force than he had entered with but before he could take another step Hermione called his name. He looked back and saw that she was deliberating over what to say next. He raised an eyebrow at her and eventually she said, "Draw me up a version that I can agree to."

Relief coursed through his body but he played it cool, showing no outwards sign. "OK."

The next thirty minutes were extremely busy as Tony tried to resolve the damage done in Bucharest and attempted to put together a form of the Accords that Hermione would sign and yet still be acceptable to the UN. He knew that the likelihood of her putting pen to paper decreased with every minute that ticked by. Most of the phone calls he put out were positive in nature as those in power were eager to have the Sorceress on side. Secretary Ross, though, was not quite as easily pleased.

The General had been in a long meeting during the operation in Bucharest and had only recently found out about the debacle. He was still hopping mad when he spoke to Tony and, as predicted, wanted the book thrown at Sam, Steve and Hermione. Even Hermione's tentative agreement to sign the Accords didn't lift his mood much.

"Every country in the United Nations agreed to those conditions," Secretary Ross growled down the phone to him. "Why should we make exceptions for her?"

"Sir, I could talk to you for an hour about how often my technology has been used against me and Grang-, er, Hermione has been lecturing me on it since the day we met," Tony replied, keeping his voice calm and respectful. "You have some idea what she's capable of, sir, so imagine how much damage could be done if the wrong people get hold of her DNA and unlocked her magic for themselves."

Ross merely grunted.

"We'll keep the amendments quiet, sir," Tony continued, "Only those who need to know will be aware. The UN Secretary-General spoke favourably about the proposal."

Ross grunted again. "Forward me any version you draft before you put it in front of her, Stark."

The arrival of the detainees from Bucharest only increased the tension inside the Task Force building. Steve and Sam entered the control room as Tony was finishing off his conversation with Secretary Ross.

Steve was looking at him with a mixture of hope and wariness. "They won't let me see Hermione," he said anxiously as soon as Tony was finished on the phone.

"Maybe that's because last time you were together you concocted a plan that broke several of the laws outlined in the only hours-old Accords," Tony said sarcastically.

Natasha stepped forwards and put a reassuring hand on Steve's arm. "I've already told you, she's fine. They've got her resting in a bed a couple of floors away."

"The quicker you sit down and let us try and fix your mess, the sooner I expect you'll get to see your wife," Tony advised, motioning to some seats.

"Her blood pressure has been high," Steve persisted. "Has someone checked it?"

Tony very much wanted to make a comment about how he doubted Hermione's blood pressure would be so much of a concern if Steve hadn't hopped across Europe to take on a deadly assassin, but he managed to choke it down. Bold home truths had managed to push Hermione to the brink of signing the Accords but he doubted the same tactic would work quite as well with Steve. "I'll get someone on the blood pressure," Tony said smoothly. "I know you're concerned but you don't want to go making things worse - Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted."

"That's not going to happen though, right?" Sam asked.

Tony shrugged. "You guys caused a lot of damage, and not just in the literal sense. There's got to be consequences."

"For Hermione too?" Steve asked concerned. "They're not going to lock her up, surely?"

Sam and Natasha watched Tony closely, almost as anxious about Hermione's fate as her husband was. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen," Tony replied truthfully.

Steve held his gaze for a moment and then nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Tony."

It was some time before Tony was able to free himself from the seemingly endless series of phone calls to find time to sit down with Steve one-to-one. Hermione was still mulling over the version of the Accords that sat before her but Tony had gotten the grudging acceptance of Secretary Ross and some of the key players at the UN for the proposed modifications. Now he only hoped that she would sign it - not that he would be telling Steve that any time soon.

Keeping Hermione and Steve apart was actually playing to Tony's advantage because he strongly suspected that she would be less likely to put pen to paper if she talked it over with her husband. He also sensed that telling Steve how close she was to agreeing would push him further away from doing the same. He knew very well that he was manipulating his friends but he was doing it for their own good.

Steve glanced up at him as he entered the conference room, its glass walls showing the activity around them in the control room. Steve opened his mouth to speak but Tony beat him to it. "She's fine," he told him. "Blood pressure's been checked and there's no real change. Contact has also been made with the doctor that saw her in Vienna and all medical notes have been passed on. Apparently the doctor wasn't best pleased that she ignored his advised bed rest and took a flight less than two hours after being knocked unconscious by an explosion in order to put herself in another highly stressful situation."

Steve grimaced and glanced away, obviously sensing the disapproval in Tony's voice. There was a lot more that Tony would happily say on the matter but the situation called for him to try and restrain himself, so instead he gently wiggled the small box he was holding and said, "You wanna see something cool? I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely." He pulled the lid upwards and put the presentation box down in front of Steve so he could see the two fountain pens resting inside. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."

Steve shook his head once. "Some would say it brought our country closer to war."

Sometimes, Tony swore that Steve would say things _just_ to get under his skin and piss him off. "See? If not for these you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to…" He gestured to the pens before taking a seat. "What do you call it? That's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?"

"I know you're trying to make peace - " Steve began and Tony frowned.

"Aren't we all? Isn't that why we do what we do?"

"But peace that demands the surrender of your liberty isn't a peace at all," Steve argued.

Tony could feel himself getting agitated. "You think you're the only one in a difficult position; the only one who has to make decisions for the people you love?"

Concern showed on Steve's face. "How are things with Pepper? Are you guys back together?"

Tony briefly covered his mouth with his hand, hiding the pain that stabbed in his chest. "Did Hermione tell you why we're taking a break?" Tony had avoided the topic with her at all costs but he knew that Pepper would have confided in Hermione.

Steve shook his head. "No, she would never."

Tony shrugged. "It's nobody's fault," he said, his tone of voice lighter than he truly felt. "A few years ago when I almost lost her, I trashed all my suits. Then, Granger disappeared, we had to mop up HYDRA… and then Ultron. My fault," he admitted calmly, followed by a sigh, "And then we hear about magic and Thanos, and then, and then, and then," he said quickly, "I never stopped. Because the truth is I _don't wanna_ stop... I don't wanna lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference.

"In her defense, I'm a handful," he joked, reaching his limit on the serious, personal discussion and getting to his feet to look contemplatively out into the control room. "Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work."

"You know, I'm glad Howard got married," Steve said fondly. "I only knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh, really? You two knew each other?" Tony commented sarcastically, turning back to look at him as he picked up his suit jacket. "He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. God, I hated you," he muttered, shrugging on the jacket. His bitter tone must have caught Steve by surprise because he could feel his big ole blues gazing at him with compassion.

"I don't mean to make things difficult," Steve told him.

"I know, because you're a very polite person," Tony replied easily.

"If I see a situation pointed south… I've never been able to ignore it," he admitted. "Sometimes I wish I could."

"No, you don't," Tony retorted.

"In the past, I didn't," he agreed with a wry smile. "But now, for the sake of my wife and child, I do," he stated firmly. "And I was willing to but she..." he trailed off and shook his head with that damn wry smile again. "She knows me."

Tony resisted the urge to drag a weary hand over his face. "She convinced you to go." He'd previously believed Steve to be the instigator behind the mess in Bucharest but apparently it was the other member of Team Rogers that was to blame.

"You know how important friendship is to her," Steve pointed out, "To us both."

" _God_ you two really get on my nerves sometimes," Tony muttered truthfully and then sighed. "But I don't want to see you gone. We need you, Cap. Both of you. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, _if you sign,_ " he said, motioning to the pens. "We can make the last twenty-four hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych center instead of a Wakandan prison. You and Hermione prepare for the birth of your child without the threat of incarceration hanging over your heads."

Steve picked up one of the pens and stood, looking at it solemnly for a few moments before glancing up at Tony. "I'd have to talk to Hermione first - I'm not doing anything without seeing her."

"Of course," Tony agreed, "I'm working on it."

"But, if I _were_ to agree, there'd have to be safeguards in place - I need to protect my family, Tony," he said firmly.

"Sure. Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended." Tony doubted that Secretary Ross would agree to two altered versions of the Accords in the same day but when things had calmed down he was sure he could get the go ahead. "I'd file a motion to have you, Hermione and Wanda reinstated-"

"Wanda?" Steve interrupted. "What about Wanda?"

Tony immediately knew that he'd said something that he shouldn't have. "She's fine. She's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company."

Steve's face creased with disapproval. "Oh God, Tony! Every time. Every time I think you see things the right way…" Steve protested, pacing up and down.

"What?" Tony defended agitatedly. "It's a hundred acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people."

"Protection?" Steve repeated. "Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's _internment_ , Tony."

"She's not a US citizen -

"Oh, come on, Tony," Steve scoffed.

"- and they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction."

"She's a kid!"

" _Give me a break!_ " Tony snapped, finally losing his temper. "I'm doing what has to be done," he said more calmly, "to stave off something worse." Steve stared at him and Tony struggled to maintain the eye contact under the intense scrutiny.

"You keep telling yourself that," Steve replied lowly.

Tony hit the table in frustration. "This is _not_ the fight that we need to be having. Have you forgotten who our true enemy is?" Tony argued. He didn't have to say the name because he could see by the increased tension in Steve's posture that he knew who Tony was talking about, but he said it anyway. " _Thanos_. That bastard abducted your wife, tortured her and damn near had her killed but you'd rather have us squabbling amongst ourselves when he turns up to finish the job he gave to Loki. We're talking about the fate of the entire planet, Steve, and I reckon the only way we stand a chance of defeating him is if we're all together."

Steve said nothing.

"Your friends safe, the freedom to be with your family, and a united front to protect the people of this planet from the greatest threat they've ever faced," Tony proposed sombrely. "The way the lay of the land's looking, you're either going to get it all or none of it. The choice is yours, Steve..."

* * *

It felt like Steve had been staring at the copy of the Sokovia Accords (that he suspected Tony had 'accidentally' left on the table) for hours. It was an extremely intimidating stack of paper and, as the minutes ticked by, he had a growing sense that he might have to do something that he didn't want to. If he only had himself to think about then he knew that he'd still be able to dismiss the Accords despite the mess that had occured in Bucharest. But it would be selfish of him to only think about himself when he had a very pregnant wife. The same arguments of the last few days chased themselves round and round his head. The tentative impasse they'd reached in agreeing to wait until after the baby had been born had been torn away from them. Life, it seemed, wasn't going to let them have things their way - but when had it ever done so before? Fate was forcing Steve to make a decision and it felt like it was tearing away at him from the inside out.

He had to speak to Hermione. That was imperative. No decision would be forced from him before he spoke to her and then they could take the next step of their journey together: as a family.

Sam tapped him on the shoulder, breaking him out of his contemplation. Steve sent him a questioning look and Sam nodded his head towards the large screens on the wall outside the glass office they were being held in.

"The interview with the psychiatrist is starting," Sam said.

On some of the screens, Steve could see Bucky from various angles, still restrained in his special protective pod. As he watched, a man took a seat at a table opposite to Bucky but he could hear nothing. Apparently Tony and the Task Force didn't want him to know what was being said.

The door to the office was opened and Sharon Carter walked in, piece of paper in hand. "The receipt for your gear," she told Sam as she passed it over. She sent a sympathetic glance Steve's way then focused on the assortment of screens too.

" _Bird costume_ ," Sam said distastefully. "Come on."

"I didn't write it," Sharon replied unbothered.

Steve continued to stare at Bucky's image, noticing how understandably tense his best friend looked. At least he's alive, he told himself. Whatever repercussions that followed on from Bucharest, at least his best friend was still alive. He was sure that the real Bucky was in there somewhere and he wanted to believe his friend when he'd said that he didn't plant the bomb.

"I'm not here to judge you," a male voice suddenly said into the room and Steve realised the audio had been authorised. He glanced over at Sharon and saw her hand near the control panel but she showed no reaction to the change in the transmission.

"I just want to ask a few questions," the voice (which obviously belonged to the psychiatrist from the UN) continued. "Do you know where you are, James? I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

"My name is Bucky." It still felt so strange to hear his voice again. It was both the same and different from the one he'd grown up with.

He glanced down at a photograph on the table showing the CCTV footage of 'Bucky' moments before the bombing in Vienna. Something was niggling at him if Bucky truly was as innocent as he claimed. "Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?" he asked Sam and Sharon.

Sharon shrugged. "Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?"

"Right," Steve agreed. "It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier."

"You're saying someone framed him to find him," Sharon said and then glanced away, clearly thinking about the possibility.

"Steve, we looked for the guy for over two years and found nothing," Sam reminded him.

"We didn't bomb the UN," Steve pointed out. "That turns a lot of heads."

"Yeah, but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him," Sharon argued, "It guarantees that we would." She paused and turned her eyes back to the screen, her gaze narrowed on the psychiatrist.

Steve did likewise, the sense of unease in his gut increasing. "Yeah…"

"Tell me, Bucky," the evaluator continued. "You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Bucky replied a little hoarsely.

"You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop. Don't worry," the psychiatrist said, seemingly paying more attention to an electronic device on his table than to Bucky. "We only have to talk about one."

Steve turned back to Sam and Sharon. "Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?"

Sam nodded. "Something definitely feels off."

Sharon was frowning and seemed to be deliberating with herself whether to speak. "There's something else," she told Steve and whatever it was, he knew it wouldn't be good news. "Your wife - she's just outside the holding area. My boss agreed to let her use her magic to look into his mind when the evaluator is finished."

Steve started forwards in alarm, dread flooding through his body. "Get her out of there," he urged.

"She wants to help - " Sharon started to say but Steve cut across her.

"I don't care. If something happens - "

And that was when the power in the control room suddenly went out.

* * *

A/N Cliffhanger!

Let me know what you thought of the chapter and, just as importantly, let me know what you thought of Endgame if you've already seen it!

Love,

Lil Drop of Magic


	11. Chapter 11

A/N Hi guys! Many thanks for all of the support.

* * *

It felt good to be out of bed again. Actually, it didn't feel good because her back was killing her and she was still greatly concerned about everything, but Hermione would rather be up and about than isolated and helpless.

She was attracting curious looks as she was escorted to Bucky's location, but she suspected this was more likely due to her advanced stage of pregnancy than everyone knowing her identity as the Sorceress.

The agent assigned to escort her, a burly blond-haired man called Campbell, tentatively held out a hand to her as she struggled to lower herself into a seat just outside Bucky's holding area. She grasped it gratefully and winced as her lower body made contact with the firm metal.

"Can I get you anything, ma'am?" the agent asked. "You don't look very comfortable."

Hermione looked up at the man, uncertain whether he'd been assigned to protect her or prevent her from making more trouble. She had a feeling that he wasn't sure either. "I'm heavily pregnant - I'm never comfortable," she told him wearily. Agent Campbell didn't smile so she just shook her head and said she was fine.

The UN's psychological evaluator arrived a few minutes later. He looked anxious to get on with his job but Hermione noticed that his gaze strayed towards her a few times as the agents in charge of Bucky's detention went about granting him access. She wondered whether he knew who she was. If he had read up on the Winter Soldier, did his notes tell him that she was one of the last known people to have encountered him at the battle at the Triskelion before he disappeared for two-and-a-half years? She'd certainly come off worse in their exchange and she didn't particularly like to think about it. Steve might be able to look at Bucky and see his best friend but Hermione could only see the cold eyes of an assassin who had come so close to killing her. She wasn't looking forward to seeing him with her own eyes again, but if performing legilimency on him helped his case then she was prepared to do it.

Once the psychiatrist had entered the room and the doors were quickly sealed shut behind him, there was little she could do but wait. A few minutes on the chair was all she was able to endure before the discomfort in her back proved too great and she started pacing up and down in front of the elevator, her hands braced supportively around her belly.

When the main lights suddenly powered down, she and the assortment of personnel looked around in confusion. The red flashes of the emergency lighting created a distinctly unsettling atmosphere as the agents looked to each other for guidance now that they were no longer in contact with the rest of the Task Force.

"We need to get into that room," Hermione urged, her eyes wandering over the people near her in an attempt to locate whoever was in charge of calling the shots down there. "We need eyes on Barnes. We have to stop him before he escapes."

"Ma'am, I need to get you out of here," her assigned agent said.

Hermione held up a hand to stall him. "This can't be a coincidence," she continued addressing the room. "If Barnes gets loose he's damn near unstoppable. Everyone in this building is under threat."

A bang echoed from the other side of the sealed doors and everyone flinched. A dreadful certainty settled into her gut that it was already too late: that Barnes was already on a rampage. As opposed to her previous desire that they open the doors to stop him, Hermione now fervently hoped that the structures would be enough to contain him. More bangs followed and an order was given for everyone to raise their weapons.

"Ma'am, you need to leave, _now_ ," Agent Campbell insisted, blocking her view. "You're not safe here." He looked like he wanted to physically touch her in an attempt to move her away but was also reluctant to do so.

"The psychological evaluator - " she began, worried about the defenceless man's fate in the face of such a deadly assassin.

"My job is to get you to safety, Mrs Rogers, _please_ ," Agent Campbell urged, stepping forwards so that Hermione was forced to take a couple of steps back.

More than anyone there, Hermione knew just how bad the situation could potentially be and the idea of leaving the rest of the agents in such a dangerous position felt unacceptable to her. The Winter Soldier was merciless: if he broke through the doors they wouldn't be able to stop him and some, if not all, would pay with their lives.

The banging had stopped.

Hermione couldn't tell whether that was a good sign or not, but Agent Campbell stalled and it gave her a moment to think.

"I can help," she said quickly, "I can add a magical barrier to reinforce the doors. He won't be able to get past." She moved around her agent and repeated her offer to the man who appeared to be in charge. He surveyed her for a moment and then nodded.

"Mrs Rogers," Agent Campbell urged.

"It'll only take a moment and then I'll leave, I promise," she insisted, not even looking at him. The silence on the other side of the doors was making her uneasy but she took a few steps towards them regardless. She temporarily closed her eyes and concentrated on what she wanted her magic to do.

There was a warning shout and as Hermione quickly opened her eyes, the doors slid apart to reveal the Winter Soldier. She instinctively blasted him backwards with her magic as the agents around her yelled at her to get out of their line of fire. Hermione's gaze locked onto the assassin's as he recovered from her blast and fear rippled through her body at its familiarity. She knew at once that just like at the Triskelion, the Winter Soldier was going to do all he could to kill her. Were she not pregnant, she'd stay and fight, but she made no objection as Agent Campbell began pulling her backwards.

As soon as she was far enough away the shots rang out and Hermione created a magical barrier around herself and Campbell so that they wouldn't be in danger of being hit by a stray or deflected bullet. Even as she hurried away, Hermione could see that the Winter Soldier had fully emerged from the holding room and was making short work of taking out the agents that were trying to stop him. Hermione forced a couple of objects to fly into his path but they barely slowed him down at all. Just before they disappeared around the corner into a long corridor, Hermione sent three stunning spells at him in quick succession but didn't wait to see if they met their target.

"Down here," Campbell instructed, supporting Hermione down the corridor. "There are some doors - he won't know which one we take if we're quick."

Hermione nodded, repeatedly looking over her shoulder for any sign of the assassin. They reached the doors and Campbell hurriedly opened the first one for her and tried not to shove her through it. Once they were on the other side in a new corridor, Hermione magically locked it and not a moment too soon as a metal fist shattered through it. She staggered backwards unable to withhold a small scream in her shock. Campbell stepped in front of her, gun raised. The metal hand took the impact of the bullets and then it wrenched the weapon clean out of Campbell's grip. Before he could get away, the arm lunged further, grabbing Campbell around the throat and pulling him forcefully against the door. The agent crumpled to the floor in a heap. Hermione sent a sustained burst of fire through the hole in the door. If he was still there when she relinquished it, she'd try stunning him or some other method of immobilising him. And if that didn't work...would she kill him? She knew she was capable of it - all those months in space had taught her that. It would break her heart to do it though, killing Steve's oldest friend, but if it was a choice between Bucky's life or that of her and her baby's, she knew what she would do.

She ceased the burst of fire, anticipating a resumed attack. Seconds ticked by and there was no sign of him. She wanted to send a diagnostic spell Campbell's way but she was too scared to shift her concentration from the jagged hole in the door. She didn't know how long she stayed there, frozen like that, because no amount of time felt like it would be long enough before she could let her guard down. A noise behind her made her whirl around in panic, her magic surging to her fingertips, ready to be unleashed.

It wasn't the Winter Soldier.

It was Tony.

Relief rushed through her and she held a hand up to her mouth to stifle a sob. Her magic, though, still sought a release and the ground and walls around her became cracked and scorched as though struck by lightning. Another sob was released and Tony approached her slowly with his hands up. "You're OK," he told her gently. "You're safe." She latched onto him once he was close enough and although he stiffened at the contact, he didn't push her away but just gently stroked her trembling back.

After a couple of minutes, she began to calm down and she lifted her head from his shoulder, noticing for the first time that he was injured. She held her fingertips against a cut on his face and he winced a little as the wound was healed. "What happened?" she asked, turning to where Campbell was still lying motionless on the floor. "How did they get him secured?"

The pause in Tony's response made her glance back at him. "He _is_ secure, isn't he?" she asked, her panic beginning to return.

Tony still hesitated and Hermione gasped.

"As far as we can tell, he's not on the premises," Tony allowed. "The facility was evacuated but a sweep is now being undertaken to search for him."

"Security footage?" she asked. This wasn't good news. If the Winter Soldier was loose amongst civilians, who knew what damage he would wreak?

"Went down with the power," he replied. "Same over the whole city. Once it's up, facial recognition will be used everywhere but it won't be able to tell us what's already happened. The Task Force are trying to piece together his movements to give us some idea of how he got out - somebody would have seen it."

"If they're still alive to tell us," Hermione sighed, turning back to Campbell. Although she was relieved that the Winter Soldier didn't seem about to punch through the wall and kill her, she was hardly reassured by his escape. She thought of the turmoil Steve would be going through at Bucky's actions as she diagnosed Campbell's injuries, and placed a healing charm on his head to counteract the damage that had been caused by the impact with the door.

"Do you think they'll let me see Steve now?" she asked, gently raising her fingers to lift Campbell into the air so they could take him somewhere he could rest. "He's going to be so worried about Bucky."

Tony cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah, about that…" he began and Hermione looked at him sharply.

* * *

"Your husband _abandoned_ you, Mrs Rogers," Secretary Ross told her bluntly and Hermione tried not to flinch at the scorn in his words. "You look like you could give birth any day, but instead of doing his duty as a husband and a father, he absconded with the world's most deadly assassin. He knew you'd been placed in danger and he didn't even stop to make sure you were OK before he threw away any chance he had of being a free man for the birth of his child. What sort of man does that to his wife?"

Hermione had to resist the very strong urge to glare at him. "Steve would not have made the decision lightly. I'm sure he had very good reasons for behaving the way he did. He knows I'm safe."

"How?" Ross sneered. "We have access to your phone. Neither he nor Wilson have been in contact with you or anyone else here."

"His watch," she replied shortly. "It's enchanted. It would tell him if I was in danger." She would've sent him a patronus but she had found it difficult enough to successfully cast the spell after events on Sanctuary and impossible since becoming pregnant.

Ross waved his hand, effectively showing he wasn't prepared to listen to any defence she might have of Steve's actions, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying. "The fact remains that he helped Barnes escape," Ross told her, "eyewitnesses saw the struggle on the helipad and Captain Rogers then dragging Barnes through the water until we lost sight of him. Your husband decided to take matters into his own hands and he's going to have to face the consequences whether you like it or not." He turned his gaze on Natasha and Tony and glared at them as though challenging them to object. Neither did. He returned his eyes to Hermione. "Now, you might have had more sense than your husband but if I suspect for even one moment that you are assisting him, Wilson and Barnes in any way then I will see you go down too and that's a promise."

The glass walls of the office trembled slightly along with most of its contents as Hermione struggled to keep a hold of her fears. Tony stood up with a look of concern and Natasha stepped forwards to put a supportive hand on her back. "You're OK," she told her quietly. "We're going to get through this."

Ross was watching her closely and Hermione recalled what Tony said about how much she probably scared him; how he sought to control her. She had a feeling that Steve had unwittingly given Ross exactly what he wanted over her and she was going to have to be careful that she didn't do anything to provoke him. It wasn't easy but she forced herself to remain calm and she glanced towards Natasha and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Thank you."

"The same applies to all of you," Ross continued, glancing at Tony and Natasha again. " _Anyone_ helping those criminals will be treated as one, even if they've signed the Accords."

"Understood," Tony replied, giving Natasha a swift glance and she nodded.

"Now, I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Secretary Ross asked.

"We will," Tony answered confidently. "GSG-9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it."

"You don't get it, Stark. It's not yours to handle," Ross told him. "You're all too close to this - it's clear you can't be objective. I'm bringing in Special Ops to get the job done."

 _Keep it together,_ Hermione told herself. _Don't lose control in front of Ross. He's just waiting for an excuse to have you sent away._ She could feel Tony watching her in quiet dismay and Natasha was holding tightly onto her arm.

"What happens when the shooting starts?" Natasha asked, a note of anger in her voice. "What, do you kill Steve Rogers?"

Hermione shuddered at the very thought. She picked up an empty glass from the table and turned her back on Ross so he wouldn't see her use her magic to melt it down as an outlet for her anxiety.

"If we're provoked," she heard Ross reply calmly. The molten glass suddenly turned to ice but she vanished it when she felt him walk around to face her. "Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it weren't for your interference. There are dead people who would be alive now." She couldn't look at him but his voice was boring into her skull relentlessly. "Feel free to check my math."

"All due respect, you're not gonna solve this with boys and bullets, Ross," Tony said, thankfully taking Ross's attention away from her for the moment. "You gotta let us bring them in."

"How would that end any differently than last time?" Ross asked, sounding unconvinced.

"You don't know Steve like we do," Tony said. "Hermione can talk sense into him now that she's on board. He won't let her down."

"He already has," Ross said heartlessly.

Hermione steeled her head and heart against his words. "You'll have my magic. I know I can incapacitate Barnes if you'll let me."

"And if I want him _dead_ ," Ross said bluntly, "are you prepared to go that far?"

"I don't believe he's truly behind his actions - someone's manipulating the Winter Soldier within him," Hermione argued.

"I don't care," Ross replied, "He's too dangerous to be left alive."

"If he's incapacitated then I can see who's truly behind these attacks," Hermione persisted.

"You didn't answer my question," Ross said. "If Barnes goes on a rampage again and threatens the lives of innocent people just like he did today, would you be prepared to kill him?"

If she'd killed the Winter Soldier when the door had slid open earlier than day, snapped his neck with her magic just like she'd done under Thanos, none of those agents would have died. Did her belief in Bucky's potential innocence justify those deaths? Did her love and loyalty to Steve? How many deaths were too many? She already had so many on her conscience and shredded through her soul…

"Yes," she said softly. "If the situation called for it, I'd kill him."

Natasha's constant grip on her arm faltered and Tony was looking at her in a way he never had before. She felt sick. She just wanted this nightmare to be over.

Ross still didn't look convinced. "How do I know that you won't take your husband's side?"

"Threatening me with imprisonment wasn't enough?" she asked bitterly.

"If I'm going to let you see your husband I want a more solid assurance that you'll play by the rules," Ross insisted. "Your magic gives you an advantage."

"We'll come up with something," Tony said quickly. "Seventy-two hours. We'll have them. Guaranteed."

Ross gave them all an appraising glance. "Thirty-six hours," he countered, his tone of voice indicating there was no room for argument. " _Barnes_ ," he stressed. " _Wilson._ _Rogers._ " He walked to the door of the office. "I'll be in touch."

"Thank you, sir," Tony said quickly but Hermione could not make herself show gratitude to the man who had only just refrained from ordering armed agents to hunt down her husband and his friends at whatever cost.

The door clicked closed. Tony let out an audible sigh and his shoulders sagged but Hermione couldn't let herself relax a muscle for the fear that she would completely lose control.

"Well, this is a shit-storm of a situation," Tony muttered, massaging over his chest. "You alright, kid?" he asked, watching Hermione warily.

"No," she replied tightly.

"No one would be in your situation," Natasha told her in an attempt to be comforting. "We've just got to figure out how to play this to get the best possible outcome."

"Which is Steve being locked away," Hermione said dully.

"Ross is just angry," Tony put in quickly, getting to his feet. "If we get the three of them back without a fuss, we'll be able to talk him down, I know it." He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her square in the eyes. "Have faith. If we get you in contact with Steve, I know he'll listen to reason when he realises the stakes are so high. We can do this. I'm not going to let you down."

* * *

Steve desperately wanted to talk to Hermione.

In the space of a few hours, the world he had tentatively pictured them approaching had been torn to shreds. Their plan to wait for the birth of their child and then make a joint decision about their careers seemed like a distant and futile hope. But there was little point in grieving for the future they could have had yesterday, or even the future he'd imagined them having before the Accords had been announced: decisions had been made, actions had been taken and events had unfolded because of them.

However, not all of it had been of their own doing. The bombing in Vienna, Bucky's arrest and the interrogation at the Task Force had all been carefully engineered by the 'psychological evaluator' to reveal the existence of five more Winter Soldiers. It was a terrifying prospect and Bucky, Steve, Hermione and the others had been tangled up in the man's web: their lives forever changed whatever the outcome of the next few hours.

The man, whoever he truly was, had to be stopped before he got his wish to see an empire fall. Five Winter Soldiers let loose into the world could wreak havoc in the blink of an eye and, judging by how difficult it had been to track Bucky over the years, Steve doubted that the new UN-sanctioned Avengers would be able to stop this new threat if it was released. So, it was imperative to get to Siberia to prevent it from happening.

But that was easier said than done.

The rest of the world had only seen the Winter Soldier version of James Barnes - they didn't know the true Bucky was the one who was mostly in control. As events in Bucharest showed, they'd shoot him before they found out the truth and even then Steve doubted that they'd really care.

Steve and Sam had already been at risk of prosecution but, now that they had once again interfered with the Task Force without the authority of the Accords, he knew that simply getting in contact to pass on the intelligence of Siberia wasn't a possibility.

Every stroke that he had made to drag Bucky's unconscious form down the river had torn into his heart. Steve would happily surrender his liberty for Bucky's life but the impact it had on his family was devastating. Should his friend's life come before doing his duty as a husband and father? It wasn't a decision he'd ever wanted to make and he hoped and prayed that Hermione would forgive him. More than once he'd considered what she'd have done if their roles were reversed: if Harry's life had been in the balance, would she save her friend even if it meant not being with Steve?

He felt sick whenever he thought about the stress and worry he was causing her; how his disappearance and criminal status would be endangering both her health and the child's. Hermione might have encouraged his trip to Bucharest knowing the possible consequences, but it was one thing to be aware of them and another to face them in reality. He felt like the worst husband in the world. All he wanted was to take care of her, to keep her happy and safe, but his recent actions had produced the opposite, and the risk of going to Siberia was that it was potentially a trip he wouldn't come back from. Hermione deserved to know the truth if he was undertaking such a dangerous task, but he was worried that having knowledge of Siberia would make things worse for her health. Or was he really being cowardly and using her condition to avoid taking responsibility for his decisions?

That thought appalled him and yet he still hadn't made any move to contact her. It would be risky to do so (because he knew she'd be under surveillance thanks to her relationship with him and it could lead to his location being discovered) but not impossible. He didn't know her current whereabouts but he had faith in Tony and Natasha that they would be making sure she was being taken care of somewhere safe. He hoped that Tony had fulfilled his pledge to ensure that Hermione wasn't in danger of any prosecution and he took heart from the fact that the Task Force had been willing to allow her to use her magic on Bucky before everything had gone wrong. Surely they wouldn't have given her access if they still planned to formally charge her? But if Steve did contact Hermione to tell her about the other Winter Soldiers, would that implicate her in his actions and risk her being prosecuted all over again? It was definitely a possibility and something he wanted to avoid at all costs, so therefore it was another reason why he had refrained from reaching out to her.

She'd believe him if he told her about the fake evaluator and the five previously-unknown Winter Soldiers in Siberia, he was certain of that. But, when the only evidence was the word of a brainwashed assassin, he wasn't so sure that anyone else would be so trusting, not even Tony. But even if Tony _did_ , Steve doubted that the Accords would let him do anything about it. A quick decision needed to be made to prevent an unstoppable force being unleashed from Siberia and Steve knew that Secretary Ross would be more interested in having himself, Bucky and Sam detained before he'd bother to listen to what they had to say and by then it would be too late.

The weight of his decisions, of doing the right thing, weighed heavily on his shoulders and, for the first time since he'd been injected with the super serum, he wished there was someone else to take the burden from him. He was a little disgusted with himself for even thinking that because it had been his choice to undergo the procedure. If he were to have his time again, he knew he wouldn't make a different decision and he in no way regretted accepting Erskine's serum, but he wished there was something he could do to stop his family from suffering the consequences of his actions.

"Maybe this is the one you need to sit out," Sam said, interrupting Steve's reflection on his inner conflict. "We can get in reinforcements. The stakes for you - "

"Are no different than anyone else who defies the Accords," Steve interrupted. "My life and my freedom aren't more important than anyone else's."

"You didn't let me finish," Sam said coolly. "The stakes for you _and your heavily pregnant wife_ are high, man."

"Clint was in the same position with Sokovia," Steve reminded him. "He was willing to put his life on the line to make sure Ultron was taken care of."

Sam held up a pacifying hand. "OK, but he didn't have the threat of incarceration waiting for him if the mission was successful," Sam countered. "If you go to Siberia and we get the job done and escape with our lives, you still lose, Steve, and Hermione still ends up alone." Steve's stomach clenched at the thought and Sam's tone was a bit softer as he said, "I don't think it's too late for you to undo the damage as long as you go back now."

"You really think I could do that?" Steve asked him. "Send others off to carry out something so dangerous and not go myself?"

"Hermione's going to be alone, Steve," Sam repeated solemnly. "You go to Siberia, you're definitely going to miss the birth and, if the worst happens, you're going to leave that kid without a father."

Dread swept through Steve's body at Sam's grim prediction. "You think I don't know that? You think it isn't tearing me apart inside that I'm abandoning them? You know I'd make another choice if I could."

"But you _can,_ " Sam pointed out, "and none of us would blame you for it."

Steve shook his head emphatically. "That's not who I am. My choices don't come before the needs of others."

"And what about the needs of your family?" Sam asked directly.

Steve grimaced and then shook his head. "Hermione always puts others before herself, you know that," he told Sam. "She'll understand." His words sounded both hollow and hopeful. "I never met my father. He died serving in the First World War and I am proud of the sacrifice he made serving his country. I want to make my son or daughter proud of me even if that means I never get the chance to hold them in my arms." His heart grew heavier after voicing that thought out loud. Although discovering the pregnancy had been a shock, as the months had passed he had become more excited about the idea of becoming a father. He loved feeling the child move and had found himself increasingly picturing the key stages in his son or daughter's life. It wasn't easy to accept that he might not see them taking their first step, help them write their name or even get to hear their voice, but he knew that stepping aside wasn't an option for him.

Sam looked at him sadly and then sighed. "Well, alright then. I just wanted you to be sure before we put this into motion."

Bucky had watched this exchange silently, his arm still pinned down in the vice. "The three of us aren't going to be enough." He fixed his gaze on Sam. "Those reinforcements you mentioned, they might have to be called up anyway."

Steve frowned. He didn't like the idea of getting anyone else caught up in this when it could cost them so much, but Bucky knew the capabilities of the other Soldiers: if he said they needed more then he'd put out the call and see who answered. "Who did you have in mind?" he asked Sam.

"Vision and Rhodey signed the Accords so they're out," Sam said. "I reckon Clint could be talked out of retirement and he could get Wanda out of the compound. There's the little dude in San Francisco too."

"Ant-Man?" Steve recalled.

"Yeah. I reckon he'd be up to the task," Sam replied.

Steve frowned. All three of them had very good reasons to stay away: Wanda was already on Ross's radar as being too dangerous and both men were fathers.

Sam sensed his reluctance. "We'll just get in contact, sound them out," he proposed.

"They've got to know what they're getting themselves into," Steve insisted. "We can't downplay the seriousness of the threat from Siberia or the UN, Sam, that's not fair."

Sam nodded in agreement. "What about our gear?" he asked. "Do you think Hermione could use her magic to get it to us?"

"No," Steve said sharply. "We're keeping her out of this. She needs to be somewhere quiet and safe where she can be looked after. We'll have to find another way."

Steve thought about reaching out to Harry. The trial had forbidden him from getting involved in non-magical matters but if he just returned some confiscated items, that wasn't anything too serious, was it?

"How did you guys get to me in Bucharest first?" Bucky asked, interrupting Steve's thoughts.

Sam glanced at him, a glint of hope in his gaze. "I think she'd do it. She's already crossed the line for you a couple of times."

"This would be way beyond that," Steve said. "Sharon could go to prison."

"That's a dilemma a lot of people are having to face," Sam pointed out, sounding a little aggravated. "She's a grown woman: let her make her own choice instead of making it for her."

Steve paused a moment and then nodded. "Fine. Let's hope this Agent Carter comes through for me like her aunt always has done."

* * *

A/N Let me know what you think. As we all know, things are really building now!

Lots of love,

Lil Drop of Magic


	12. Chapter 12

A/N Hi guys! Thanks for all your support. Let's get on with the story!

* * *

Sharon Carter didn't look surprised to find that the car that had swerved in front of her, forcing her to halt her hurried footsteps, contained Hermione and Natasha.

Hermione could see a quick deliberation in her eyes about her chances of escape, but she seemed to realise her efforts would be in vain because she made no move to run.

"Get in," Natasha ordered. Sharon only hesitated for a moment before complying and taking a seat in the back alongside Hermione. Natasha drove off at once. "You want to explain what you're doing in the outskirts of the city when your Task Force is stretched to the limit?" Natasha asked.

"Chasing up a lead," Sharon replied coolly. "I ran it past my boss."

Natasha smirked at her in the rearview mirror. "Right. And the reason you took Steve and Sam's gear out of impound and drove off with it?"

Sharon opened her mouth, probably to deny any knowledge, but Hermione didn't have the patience to play that game. "You've seen Steve?" she asked, her voice sounding even more weak and pitiful than she'd actually intended.

For the first time since getting into the car, Sharon turned her eyes to Hermione and the agent's protestations died before they left her lips. The uncertainty was clear on Sharon's face as her gaze briefly glanced down to Hermione's stomach.

"You're already looking at a hefty prison sentence for revealing the Bucharest location," Natasha told her matter-of-factly. "Add on the removal of confiscated items and interactions with three fugitives, and things don't look too good for you. If we tell Secretary Ross you cooperated, maybe he'll go easy on you."

Hermione doubted that was true but she didn't want to see Sharon punished for what she'd done to help Steve. Sharon sent Hermione a somewhat accusatory glance which wasn't missed by Natasha.

"Hermione didn't rat on you about Bucharest: we investigated who visited her in hospital so you were already on our radar, and I noticed you overrode the restricted access to let Cap and Wilson listen to the interrogation. This is all on you."

Sharon showed no reaction to these words for a few seconds and then said, "I've seen him - all three of them." Hermione's heart thudded painfully at her words. "He's fine," she added, anticipating Hermione's next question. "They all were: Barnes was just sat in the back of their car, totally calm."

Hermione's eyes briefly met Natasha's at these words. It was good that Bucky wasn't still in assassin-mode, but not particularly surprising because Hermione doubted that they would've been able to remain hidden if he wasn't. She suspected that Steve and Sam needed their gear back in case Bucky became dangerous again, and a sense of frustration welled up in her that Steve hadn't reached out to her to help find a solution before innocent people got hurt again. The longer Steve stayed away, the more severe the consequences would be and he had to know that. Surely, he also knew that magic was the safest way to contain Bucky until they could find a way to stop him having his episodes - whether that be due to an individual triggering him or some sort of mental breakdown. She was aware that Steve had his best friend's interests at heart but she feared that his loyalty to Bucky was preventing him from seeing the dangers others were being put in because of his actions.

"Where are they headed?" Natasha asked, breaking into Hermione's thoughts.

Sharon's mouth tightened. "An airport," she said eventually. "They're waiting for reinforcements."

Hermione looked at Natasha again, her heart sinking. "Did they say which airport?" Hermione asked Sharon.

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't think it had been decided."

"Anything else you can tell us?" Natasha asked. "Did they mention anything about what would happen when their reinforcements showed up?"

Sharon shook her head again. "No. The meeting was brief. We knew we couldn't be out in the open for long."

Natasha asked for details on their car and Sharon hesitated again.

"Steve's my husband," Hermione reminded her. "I'm trying to help him while I still can - the same for Sam, Bucky and anyone else they've managed to get caught up in this. Please, Sharon. I want to stop them from making things worse."

Sharon described the car and then looked out of the window as soon as she was done. "You're not taking me to headquarters," she realised, glancing at Natasha curiously.

Natasha pulled the car over, not far from where they'd originally picked Sharon up, having looped around the area a few times. Natasha turned around in her seat and gave Sharon a calculating look. "You've got fifteen minutes before we call it in that we made contact with you and then you escaped. Secretary Ross is too busy hunting down the others to bother checking any footage. I suggest you make the most of your head start."

Sharon looked between the two women and then nodded. "Thank you."

Natasha faced forwards again and muttered, "It wasn't my idea."

Sharon turned to Hermione, her eyes showing gratitude and remorse. "Thank you. It's a shame that when we finally met it has been one catastrophe after another. I hope everything works out for you and Steve." Sharon placed her hand on Hermione's arm and briefly glanced down at her stomach. "Take care of yourself, Hermione."

Hermione nodded. "Good luck, Sharon."

The blonde agent paused for a moment and then reached inside her jacket and deposited a cheap phone in the space between them. "I don't know if Steve will respond if you use it, we agreed to break contact. I was going to destroy it once I was out of the city."

Hermione looked between the burner phone and Sharon, and tried to control the thudding of her heart. She picked it up tentatively. "Thank you."

Sharon nodded curtly and then got out of the car.

* * *

Vision confirmed Sharon's claim about Steve bringing in reinforcements - Clint had turned up at the Avengers Facility and convinced Wanda to leave with him.

"They've all lost their damn minds," Tony muttered.

Hermione was tempted to agree with him. Were Clint and Wanda so loyal to Steve that they would risk violating the Accords so completely? And would Steve willingly put his friends in a position like that? Clint was a father - he was just as likely to be imprisoned as Steve was when they were caught. Would he really jeopardise his freedom like that to help Bucky? "I feel like we're missing something," Hermione said. "This doesn't make sense."

They had gathered quite a little team themselves. Vision and Rhodes had made the journey over to Germany and Natasha had convinced T'Challa to join them. Tony, himself, had only just returned from a trip across the pond and claimed that someone titled 'Spider-Man' would be joining them. Hermione didn't know much about this new man, but Tony had shown her some footage and she was impressed by Spider-Man's capabilities.

"It doesn't make sense because _they've lost their damn minds_ ," Tony repeated irritably. "If you'd told me a week ago that this is where we'd be, I'd never have believed it. That Steve would be prepared to throw away _everything_ ," he made a careless gesture in Hermione's direction. Her heart stabbed painfully. A couple of members of their team glanced at her in concern and Tony tensed when he realised what he'd said and looked at her a little guiltily.

Hermione squeezed her hands into fists in an effort to keep cool. "I'm telling you, something else is going on here," she maintained. "Steve wouldn't play with people's lives like this."

"If that's true, why hasn't he made contact?" T'Challa asked gently. "Why hasn't he justified his actions?"

Hermione resisted the urge to check the burner phone Sharon had given her to see if Steve had responded. It had been a few hours since Hermione had messaged Steve, asking him to talk to her, to let her help Bucky before things were damaged beyond repair. There was every chance that Steve had destroyed his phone, just like Sharon had intended to, but Hermione knew that if Steve wanted to get in touch with her he'd be able to find a way.

"Because he thinks what he's doing is right," Tony said and then looked at Hermione sympathetically. "I know you don't want to hear it but we have to accept the possibility that he's not of sound judgement right now. His ability to make rational decisions is compromised when he's around Barnes."

Hermione could feel the weight of everyone's stares on her and she hated their pity. Even if she was right, that there was another reason behind Steve's actions, it wouldn't change the fact that they had to be brought in before Secretary Ross ordered a more deadly force be used. The details of the little, battered car Sharon had passed on had been given to the Task Force and she knew it was only a matter of time before it was found on its way to some airport or other.

"So what's the plan when the call comes in?" Hermione asked, trying to steer the topic to something more practical so everyone would stop feeling sorry for her that Steve had forsaken her in her time of need.

* * *

"You were bitten by a spider," the English woman repeated flatly before giving Mr Stark a sharp look. Peter tried not to squirm when she returned her gaze back to him. "That's what gave you your abilities?"

"Yeah," Peter replied honestly. He didn't know what this was but he got the feeling that he needed to impress this lady - Hermione, he thought she'd been called. "It had been genetically altered," he added in further explanation.

Hermione winced and put a hand on her very pregnant stomach. Peter was finding the whole experience quite unsettling but for some reason he was particularly intimidated by the fact that she looked about to give birth at any moment. Perhaps it was because the only births he was familiar with were alien ones… "Are - are you alright?" he asked her tentatively.

Hermione looked at him as though she was sizing him up and Peter froze under her scrutiny. "Not really," she admitted, "but I'm used to that by now. I don't mean to be rude, Peter, but can I ask how old you are?"

He glanced quickly at Mr Stark but got no reaction in response. "I'm fifteen," he replied.

Mr Stark grimaced slightly and Hermione's eyebrows raised in faint disbelief. "I see," she said evenly before looking over her shoulder. "Tony, can I talk to you for a second?" Mr Stark didn't look keen on the idea but he nodded his head and put out a hand to help Hermione stand up. "We'll be back in just a moment, Peter."

He nodded, feeling a little helpless as they walked through to another part of his hotel suite and he heard the door click behind them. He had no idea who Hermione was but Peter hadn't missed the way Happy had treated her almost reverently when he'd shown her into the room.

" _Fifteen_ , Tony?" Hermione was whispering. She probably thought that Peter couldn't hear her but she hadn't counted on advanced hearing being one of the side-effects from the spider bite. "Have you gone mad? He's a child! How can you even think of involving him?"

"If you want your husband brought in before Ross reverts to less diplomatic measures, we need all the help we can get," Mr Stark argued and Peter couldn't help but be caught a little bit off-guard by his words. Husband? Who was Hermione married to?

"He's too young for something so dangerous, Tony," Hermione insisted.

"I can't claim to have knowledge about everything in your oh-so-secretive past but I know for a fact that you were involved in some pretty menacing stuff at his age," Mr Stark retorted.

"Exactly," she argued. "I know what it's like to be thrown into such a dangerous situation and I also know what a devastating impact it can have on a young person when something goes wrong. You know how deadly Bucky is when he's been triggered. What if it happens when we're trying to bring him in? Peter could be seriously hurt or even killed. Do you want that on your conscience? I can't believe you'd do something so irresponsible! What did you tell his parents? I know it couldn't have been the truth."

"The kid's parents are dead," Tony replied and Peter's heart grew heavy no matter how many years had passed since that horrible event. "He lives with his aunt and she knows Peter's with me."

"You're avoiding the proper question," Hermione said angrily and Peter wondered again who exactly she was to be arguing with Iron Man like that and have such a mysterious past.

"Look, I know it's not ideal but this whole situation is completely messed up. You're not happy, I get it, but he's signed on the line and Ross says he can go. You don't get a say in the matter; that's how this works now."

Silence lasted for a few moments and then Peter heard her say in an emotional voice, "If anything happens to him I will never forgive you."

The door was opened rather forcefully and Hermione reappeared, one hand on her stomach, the other braced against her back as she walked over to him. Something about her concerned gaze and the way she'd sought to protect him made Peter admit, "I, er, have heightened senses so..."

"You heard everything we said," she realised with a slight frown as she started to awkwardly lower herself into the chair. Peter got up and apprehensively tried to help her. Hermione sent him a grateful smile. "Thank you. Peter, this isn't personal, you seem like a really sweet kid - "

"I'm not a child," he insisted.

"Legally speaking, you are," she pointed out. "Though other people seem to have forgotten that."

"I can help," he promised. "I mean, I don't really know what's going on and why Captain America's a bad guy all of a sudden, but I can look after myself, I'm stronger and faster than I look, I have quick reflexes and it takes a lot to seriously injure me."

"That's good to know," she replied but Peter got the sense that she was indulging him a little. "And Steve's not a bad guy - he's just trying to help his friend."

Understanding clicked into place. "Captain America - he's your husband?" Peter asked, a little awed, and she nodded. "That's awesome! And- and you're having a baby together?!" She nodded again but the worry was clear in her eyes. Peter knew that they were trying to arrest Captain America and his friends - people that Peter had looked up to for a long time - but he found it hard to believe that his wife was one of the ones that was trying to get him caught.

"If it wasn't for this pickle," Hermione said, indicating her stomach, "I don't think we'd be in quite the mess we are now. I'm not much use in this state."

"I - I see," Peter lied. He might have made a few revelations about her but he still didn't really know who Hermione was. There was something he was missing, he just wasn't quite sure what.

There was only a hint of movement from Hermione's fingers and then Peter suddenly found himself holding a small bird in his hand, his body having moved instinctively to grab what had shot towards him.

"You are fast," Hermione agreed, as Peter stared at the struggling bird in amazement. He let it go and it flew upwards and then dive bombed him. He somersaulted away from it and, as he watched, the bird disappeared in a puff of smoke when Hermione waved her fingers.

"You're the Sorceress!" he realised, his voice even more awed than before. "This is so cool - I can't believe this is my life! Can you show me some more of your powers?"

Hermione glanced at one of the pillows on his bed, pointed her fingers at it and it morphed into a white Westie puppy. The puppy yapped loudly and bounded down the bed towards Peter.

"Oh my gosh, you are just the cutest thing ever!" Peter cooed enthusiastically, scooping the little dog up and holding it high above his head. "Yes you are, yes you are!" The puppy barked again and as Peter brought it down towards his face, it licked his cheeks delightedly.

"What is going on in here? Why can I hear a dog?" Mr Stark asked, striding into the room.

Hermione raised her hand and Peter suddenly found himself cuddling a pillow. Mr Stark stared at him for a moment and Peter threw the cushion back on his bed.

"They've been spotted," Tony told them. A few of the objects in the room rattled a little but neither Mr Stark nor Hermione commented on it, so Peter kept his mouth shut.

"Where?" Hermione asked.

"Heading towards Leipzig," Mr Stark answered. "Natasha's getting the jet fired up." He looked over at Peter. "It's time to suit up, kid."

* * *

Leipzig/Halle Airport was eerily deserted as Steve emerged out from the underpass and quickly spotted the helicopter that Clint had intended for them to use on the next stage of their journey to Siberia. He jogged over to it and then suddenly collided with an invisible barrier.

He staggered backwards, disquiet creeping into his stomach. Surely not…

He slowly reached a hand out and made contact with the ward, revealing its existence. He'd recognise that shimmering barrier anywhere and his eyes widened.

Hermione stepped out from behind the maintenance vehicle, just along from where he was standing. He turned at the movement and she saw the despair on his face as he took her in. His body had been tense and alert but everything melted away at the sight of her, his shield hanging loosely by his side. He jogged over to her and she had to try very hard not to burst into tears.

"What are you," he began, his eyes searching hers as he closed the distance between them. "What are you _doing_ here? You should be resting." He gently reached his hand out to her cheek, hating to see the tears that were starting to fall. His fingertips made contact with her skin and he flinched as he was assaulted with a torrent of thoughts and feelings from her that were far too frantic to make sense of. All he knew was that his wife was suffering and he was almost certainly to blame. "I'm sorry," he said, kissing her forehead. "I'm so sorry for putting you through this."

"Steve," she said, her voice trembling as she clutched at his arms. "It's not too late, _please_ ," she begged, "before things get worse."

He shook his head. "I can't," he said, filling both of their hearts with anguish. "Hermione you shouldn't be here, it isn't safe."

"Where's Bucky?" she asked desperately. If Steve let her see him then maybe this whole confrontation could be avoided.

Steve opened his mouth to explain, to tell her that it was the doctor that had triggered Bucky and set up the bomb in Vienna, that he and the others needed to get to Siberia, but a familiar noise whooshed through the air and Tony landed behind them, swiftly followed by War Machine.

"Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport," Tony said before turning to Rhodey. "Don't you think that's weird?"

"Definitely weird," Rhodes agreed.

"Hear me out, Tony," Steve requested, holding out a hand while he took a half step in front of Hermione. "That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this."

Tony retracted his mask but a movement at the edge of his vision made Steve turn his head. The Black Panther leapt over a truck and landed in a crouched position. "Captain," he greeted.

"Your Highness," Steve replied respectfully. He had a feeling that none of them were going to give him a chance to explain.

"Anyway, Ross gave me thirty-six hours to bring you in," Tony said, drawing Steve's attention back to him. "That was twenty-four hours ago - you know what you've got to do."

"You're after the wrong guy," Steve told them calmly. Emotions were high on both sides and he didn't want to do anything that would set them off.

"Your judgement is askew," Tony said bluntly. The stresses of the last few days had begun to take their toll, and the sight of Steve standing there protectively in front of his wife after everything he'd put her through irritated Tony beyond belief. "Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday - Hermione was nearly one of them."

Steve flinched. Bucky had reassured him that he hadn't hurt Hermione but perhaps things had been a little closer than Steve had realised. "You think I don't regret that?" Steve asked him agitatedly. "But there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't."

Hermione let Steve's words sink into her. She'd been right. If Steve was telling the truth then there _had_ been a more justifiable reason for him recruiting others, but then she realised that something as serious as five other super soldiers wasn't going to make him stand down easily. Her efforts to save Steve from Ross's consequences had just become even harder.

"Steve," Natasha's voice called gently from behind him, forcing him to turn again. "That's not how this works anymore. If there's a threat, _we_ have to handle it."

"But _everyone_ thinks the threat is Bucky," Steve pointed out. "There isn't time!"

"Are you really prepared to punch your way out of this one?" Natasha asked.

"Steve, _please_ ," Hermione begged again, gripping his arm desperately.

He wanted to - couldn't they all see that? He could convince them, he was sure he could, and if they presented a united front in Siberia their chances of defeating the doctor's plan was greatly increased. But it wasn't his friends he needed to convince - it was Ross. If Ross did eventually listen it would be too late to stop the other Winter Soldiers, and Bucky would almost certainly be killed before Steve could prove his innocence.

"All right, I've run out of patience," Tony muttered before cupping his hands around his mouth and calling, "Underoos!"

A large web-like substance appeared on his shield and it was suddenly yanked upwards out of his grasp, another web binding his hands tightly together.

Hermione took a couple of steps away from him, her hands held protectively over her stomach as Peter landed atop an airport buggy, shield in hand.

"Nice job, kid," Tony called to him as Steve gazed up at the new figure in surprise.

"Thanks," Peter replied conversationally. "I could have stuck the landing a little better, it's just...New suit. It's nothing, Mr Stark," he added quickly, not wanting to offend, "It's perfect. Thank you."

"Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation," Tony told him.

"OK," Peter said and then raised a hand in salute as he turned to look at Steve. "Cap- Captain. Big fan," he said, indicating himself. "I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it later," Tony muttered, waving at Peter to be quiet.

"Your, er, your wife's been real nice to me," Peter told Steve, lifting his hand up to give Hermione a quick wave and she gave him a strained smile in response, still not happy that he'd been brought along.

"You've been busy," Steve commented to Tony.

"And you've been a complete idiot," Tony snapped back at him. "Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave - a safe place. Deserting your _wife_ : the mother of your unborn child. Can you believe I actually thought you were good enough for her? That I thought you would do anything to keep Hermione safe? All those months she was missing and you stood firm, but your old friend rears his head and it's like she doesn't exist anymore."

"That's not true," Steve argued, his body flushed with anger. He turned his head slightly so that he could see Hermione again. Unsurprisingly, she looked pale and drawn, and he could see a hint of betrayal in her face. Did she believe what Tony had said? He couldn't deny that he felt terrible for what he'd put Hermione through but she couldn't honestly believe that he thought she wasn't important anymore, could she? "I wanted to keep you out of it, to protect you. I thought they'd put you in a hospital or somewhere safe." He turned an accusing gaze on Tony. "You promised me you'd keep her out of Ross's reach, Tony."

"Don't blame me that you've failed to do your duty as a husband," Tony shot back at him angrily. "I'm trying to keep," he grimaced and sighed. "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart," he told him emotionally.

"You did that when you signed," Steve replied heavily.

Tony glared at him. So now it was all his fault, was it? As per _fucking_ usual. For once, Tony had been the one to play by the rules; to make the rational choices while Steve caused disaster after disaster and got everyone else caught up in his selfish schemes. Hermione was barely holding it together and looked ready to pop out the baby any day, and Steve had the gall to stand there, neglecting his duty to his family, and blame _Tony_ for all of it? How fucking dare he? "All right, we're done," Tony said with a shake of his head. "You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us, _now_ , because it's _us..._ or a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite." Tony watched him with bated breath as Steve considered his answer. "Come on," he muttered, urging Steve to do the right thing.

"Steve, if you go and see Ross now, we can sort this all out," Hermione told him as calmly as she could. "If not, they might never let you see me again."

Steve turned his agonised gaze towards her. "Don't you think I would if I could?" he told her, desperately hoping that she would understand, that she would forgive him. "It's not as simple as that. This isn't about me - the doctor, the super soldiers - "

"It doesn't matter," Tony said carelessly

" _Doesn't matter_?" Steve repeated incredulously.

"The doctor, Barnes, this has gone beyond that," Tony told him. "This _is_ about you: you've got to show Ross that you can play by the rules, that he doesn't have a reason to fear you, that it isn't about your goddamn self-righteous ego!"

Steve stared at Tony, incensed. _His_ ego? Tony was really going to accuse someone else of egotism?

"We found it. Their quinjet's in hanger five, north runway," Sam's voice said in Steve's ear. He held up his restrained hands and Clint shot an arrow straight through the webbing to release him.

As the others looked around to catch sight of Clint, Steve said, "Alright, Lang."

"Hey, guys, something - " Peter began to say but Scott reverted back to normal size after hiding himself on Captain America's shield as Ant-Man. He kicked Peter in the face as he somersaulted backwards, taking the shield with him as he went.

"Whoa. What-what the hell was that?" Rhodey asked and Tony fixed his mask back in place to start hunting down Steve's team.

Hermione watched Scott hand the shield back to Steve with a faint sense of surprise. She hadn't even thought about bringing Scott into the mix and she briefly wondered whether he'd have joined her instead if she'd asked. "I believe this is yours, Captain America," Scott said before turning to her and his eyes widened as he took in her stomach. "Hey, you're pregnant!" He patted Steve on the shoulder and looked between them saying, "Congratulations." Steve only gave him a curt nod and Scott looked at Hermione. "I guess this isn't the best time to be catching up, huh?"

"Not really," Hermione agreed, keeping most of her attention on Tony and Rhodes as they identified where Sam, Clint, Wanda and Bucky were and started to leave to apprehend them. "Scott, you shouldn't be here - they'll lock you away again for this."

" _I_ shouldn't be here?" Scott said, pointedly focusing on Hermione's stomach and then flinched slightly as Steve's shield bounced off War Machine's armour. "I know you've got your powers and you want to support your husband and all, but this doesn't seem like a safe place for someone in your condition."

"I'm here to get Steve to stop," Hermione corrected, allowing Scott to herd her away a few steps.

Scott stopped and popped open his helmet. "Wait - you're not on the same side as me?" he asked in surprise. "Am I not supposed to be talking to you?" He scrambled backwards a few steps and ran straight into Natasha. "Now I know _we're_ not on the same side," he said to Natasha as she eyed him curiously. "Look, I really don't want to hurt you."

"I wouldn't stress about it," she replied easily, then fixed Hermione with a hard stare. " _Go_ ," she ordered.

"But Steve- " Hermione began to protest.

"I don't care," Natasha interrupted. "You're gonna get hurt." She kicked Scott in the groin and then he miniaturized, using his strength to pin her hand behind her back. " _Go!_ " Natasha ordered, her voice strained.

Hermione half-turned but instead of finding somewhere to shelter she saw Tony shooting explosives at Wanda and Clint, Peter bursting through a window to take on Sam and Bucky, and T'Challa and Rhodey teaming up on Steve. Things had turned out just as she'd feared and she sensed the worst wasn't over yet.

Her heart couldn't take the sight of Steve being attacked and before she even knew what she was doing, her magic had thrown T'Challa, Rhodey and Steve apart. Her husband landed just a few feet away from her and he paused when he saw her standing over him with her arms outstretched. "I could stun you," she told him, both her voice and her fingers shaking. "I could stun you, freeze you, jinx you right here and make you stay."

She saw tension ripple through his body and he gripped his shield a little tighter but then the moment passed. He kept his eyes on hers as he got steadily to his feet. "If you were going to, you would have done so by now," he claimed. She felt a burst of anger that he sounded so sure of himself and she definitely would have jinxed him then if she wasn't worried that the spell would rebound off his shield and strike her instead.

She let her hands fall to her sides and pressed her lips tightly together to contain a sob. "I can't bear it," she choked as he closed the distance between them. "Steve, _please_."

"Hermione, you know me," he said passionately. "You _know_ I wouldn't be putting you and everyone else through this if I thought there was another way to stop whatever the doctor's got planned. He told me he wants to see an empire fall - he could be unleashing chaos even as we speak. He must be stopped before it's too late."

She believed that he thought that what he said was true; that he wouldn't jeopardise her and the lives of others without good reason, but that didn't make it any easier to accept what was happening. "But why does it have to be you?" she asked, reaching out to him. "Why now?"

He placed his hand on her stomach for a moment and then looked at her grimly. "Who would you send in my place? Who stands a better chance than I do?"

Her face crumpled as reality truly began to set in and she quickly brushed her tears away. "What about Bucky? I can help him," she offered.

"It was the doctor - he set up Vienna and then triggered Bucky," Steve told her. "We'll cover the threat."

Hermione nodded, a little relieved, and ignored Tony's voice in her ear that she was doing a good job distracting Steve from the fight. "I-I can make you a portkey," she offered but Steve shook his head.

"No," he said firmly, "You'll be at Ross's mercy if you interfere, and if he can't have me I dread to think what he'd try to do with you. I've been trying to keep you out of all this," he explained, shaking his head ruefully. "Promise me you won't interfere."

"I- I," she stammered.

"Promise me, Hermione," he urged.

She grimaced then said quietly, "I promise."

He kissed the top of her head. A loud explosion filled the air behind them and they both turned to see a huge truck burst into flames and flip over towards Rhodes, T'Challa and Natasha. To Hermione's despair, the battle was obviously beginning to escalate and she could sense that Steve was eager to make his escape.

He turned back to her quickly and fixed her with his solemn gaze as he gripped her arms tightly. "I'm going to come back," he vowed. "I know it's going to be dangerous, but nothing's going to stop me from coming back from Siberia because I've got two very good reasons to do so." He placed one hand on her stomach again but his gaze never wavered from hers. "And when I do, you're going to come with me," he told her hurriedly, sensing the needs of his team. "We can still have our life together, maybe go into magical society. There's no future for us here when the Accords are still in effect. I know it's not what we wanted but it's our only choice." He barely took the time to draw breath before he said, "I'll come back, Hermione. Be ready to leave with me. I love you." His parting kiss was so brief that Hermione had barely registered that his lips were on hers before he had gone, possibly forever...

Hermione tried to distance herself from the ensuing battle as much as possible, but it wasn't easy when her family were tearing themselves apart. And that's what they were to her: _family_. They'd been through so much together and now it had devolved into something so ugly and twisted.

She tried to see it all through muted eyes, to rely on distancing techniques that Sam had taught her to help keep a hold on her magic, and so she registered only vague surprise when Scott suddenly became giant-sized. But even through her distanced perceptions she could sense that the hostilities were becoming ever more desperate; even amongst this group of remarkable individuals, someone was going to get very seriously injured and her skills in healing were likely to be needed.

She moved closer to the battle, focusing on maintaining the strongest shield around herself that she was capable of. And, a couple of minutes later, her predictions proved correct when she saw Peter collide heavily with some crates after receiving a hefty blow from Scott's gigantic figure. He didn't appear to be moving and she started to walk over to him as quickly as her legs would carry her. Hermione's carefully isolated feelings seeped closer and closer to the forefront of her mind with each second he remained prone on the floor.

When she was still a few yards away, she saw Tony land by the boy and he suddenly burst into action, possibly thinking he needed to fight off another attacker. She was relieved that Peter was moving again, and Tony apparently wasn't too concerned about his welfare because he flew off a few seconds later.

"Wait, Mr Stark, wait! I'm not done. I'm not…" she heard him call before he slumped down on the ground. "OK, I'm done. I'm done." He seemed to sense her presence because he suddenly turned in her direction. "Oh, hey," he said when he realised it was her. "I- I'm sorry."

Hermione paused a couple of feet away from him. "I'm going to run a diagnostic spell," she told him so he wouldn't be unnerved by her magic.

"Oh - OK," he replied, automatically tensing in anticipation.

"What are you sorry about?" she asked as she ran her spell, noting the parts of his body that had suffered during the course of the battle.

"That I couldn't stop your husband like you wanted," he replied, his head following the different colours that hovered over his body.

There was a loud roar behind them and they both lifted their heads to watch the quinjet soar rapidly away. It was a hard sight for Hermione to take but it was made worse as she saw Tony and Rhodes speed after it, with Sam close behind. A battle thousands of feet in the air was much more dangerous; her mind was suddenly assaulted with new scenarios of the quinjet being blown out of the sky or crashing to the ground in a fiery inferno.

A hand on her arm made her flinch and she saw Peter quickly withdraw his touch. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump. I just, I know this can't be easy for you." He put his hand supportively on her arm again, still swaying a little from the concussion her magic had picked up.

"Thank you," she told him and then placed her fingers against his forehead. "Here, this will make your head a little clearer."

At the exact moment she looked back, a bright yellow beam of energy struck one of the three figures and then immediately started to tumble to the ground. From where she was, Hermione couldn't tell whether it was Rhodes, Sam or Tony but that hardly mattered when it looked like they had lost all control of their flight and were plummeting to their death. The other two figures started to soar downwards in an attempt to reach him but in her gut Hermione knew they would be too late.

"Oh God," Peter muttered next to her, gripping her arm tightly. "Can you help him?"

She was too far away. They had flown off so quickly that they had already put quite a lot of distance between them and the airport. There was no chance her spell would reach that far even if she did manage to be pinpoint accurate and take into account the speed at which he was falling.

She was about to watch one of her friends die and there was nothing she could do about it. She'd never felt such anguish and hopelessness in all her life: she'd never failed one of her friends before…

The sound of her apparation was like a thunderclap.

Hermione immediately slowed the momentum of the faller and then jinxed the grass in the surrounding area so that it would behave like jelly. No sooner had the spell been completed than there was a strong impact as Rhodes met the grass, sending ripples all along the ground and making Hermione fall with a cry.

A pair of arms gripped her shoulders, preventing her from landing on her stomach, and pulled her upright. "Oh my god, that was super crazy cool," she heard Peter mutter from behind her and she realised she'd accidentally brought him along when she'd disapparated. "I didn't know you could teleport."

She cancelled the jelly-jinx as Tony and Sam landed, and watched anxiously as they bent over him.

Pain stabbed through her gut and she gasped, clutching at her stomach. The stabbing sensation returned, even more painful than before, and she shut her eyes in despair.

"Oh crap," Peter muttered. "Oh crap, crap, crap." He removed his hold on the back of her shoulders but she sensed him move to her side and she grabbed onto his arm to give her something to ground herself to. "Er, Mr Stark! We've, er, got a bit of a situation over here."

There was a sudden surge of pain so intense that Hermione's knees buckled and she let out an agonised whimper.

There was the sound of running footsteps. "What's happened?" she heard Sam ask and then his hands were on her shoulders. "Mi, are you in labour or is it because you apparated?"

She cracked open her eyes but could barely make out Sam's face through her watery vision. "I don't know," she replied truthfully, her voice strained. Either way, something was wrong. She knew she shouldn't be in this much pain so quickly if she had gone into labour. However, if she'd damaged the baby while apparating…

"Help's on its way," Sam told her. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise."

" _Don't_ ," she choked, fighting against the pain. "You don't know that."

Sam said nothing in response but nor could he when the air was suddenly filled with the sounds of Hermione's tortured screams.

* * *

A/N Sorry (not really) for the cliffhanger!

I was planning on updating today anyway but it seemed particularly apt to introduce Spider-Man to my Sorceress universe because I watched Far From Home this afternoon. It was nice to write Peter for the first time even with all the drama going on around him. I've also enjoyed getting into Steve and Tony's heads in Civil War to give my perspective on what they were thinking even if it's a little different with the addition of Hermione.

This was such an important chapter in the entire Sorceress series so I hoped you all liked it. I'm not as far ahead of you guys as I'd like so hopefully I will get inspired to write, write and write some more!

Let me know what you think of the chapter (or Far From Home!)

Lil Drop of Magic


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for your support as always.

* * *

Rhodey was going to be absolutely fine.

Hermione's measures had surely saved him from a life-altering injury, if not death, but Tony was extremely concerned that the consequences of her actions would be devastating.

He'd only ever heard Hermione scream once before and that had been when Wanda had put her in a trance to show her greatest fear. Hermione's screams as she dealt with what followed her unadvised apparation weren't any less haunting this time. In fact, this had been worse, far worse, because in Sokovia he had only heard Hermione's shriek in his head. In the field, she'd been conscious of what was happening and overcome with emotion at the possibility that she'd harmed her child.

Her magic went haywire.

The Parker kid was more than a little freaked out by the events but he refused to leave Hermione's side despite having taken a lashing from her magic.

Nothing Sam said to calm her made the slightest bit of difference.

Even more worryingly, after a couple of minutes she lost consciousness from the pain, but at least her panicked magic stopped. However, from past experience, Tony knew that it could still lash out unexpectedly and he was on high alert in case that should happen.

All of a sudden they were swamped by different services and agencies, and Tony was pulled between his care of Rhodey and Hermione. An ambulance quickly took Rhodes away but angry shouts drew Tony quickly back to her.

"That's crazy - she needs urgent medical help!" Sam was yelling, attempting to pull away from the operatives that had restrained him. "There's something wrong with the baby - she might be going into labour. Stark, get your boys in line!"

"Er, Mr Stark!" came the kid's panicked voice.

"What the hell is going on?" Tony demanded. A couple of people cleared out of his way and he saw with alarm that Hermione was being removed from the scene by the same uniformed goons that Ross had sent to detain the remaining members of Steve's team while a couple of EMTs attempted to treat her. "She's on our side," Tony told the operatives. "She needs to be transported to a medical facility at once - I've got specialists on their way."

The uniformed men made no move to cease their actions. "Secretary Ross's orders," one of them told him shortly. "She's to be held like the others."

"Are you out of your goddamn minds? She's - she and the baby - they could be _dying_ ," Tony argued furiously, his heart freezing at the thought.

"We're just following orders," the goon said, shoving a distressed Parker out of the way.

"We'll see about that," Tony retorted and instructed F.R.I.D.A.Y to get in touch with Ross by whatever means necessary.

"She's dangerous, Stark," Ross had argued once Tony had voiced his objections to Hermione's detention.

"She needs help," Tony insisted.

"She's got medics with her, hasn't she?" Ross retorted.

"All due respect, sir," Tony said through gritted teeth, "I think her needs go beyond the level of your typical EMT."

"Get her whatever medical assistance you want," Ross allowed dismissively before his voice became stern, "but she's being put in a secure facility."

"Sir, there are a number of excellent hospital and medical centres nearby," Tony reasoned. "If you send her away there might not be time to save her or the baby's life. She followed all your demands, didn't put a toe out of line. Please let me take her somewhere closer," Tony requested, an unfamiliar begging tone to his voice.

"And yet her husband and Barnes still escaped," Ross pointed out, sounding suspicious. "I'm sure there's more she could have done to prevent that from happening. Regardless of her involvement in the fiasco you've created in Leipzig, what happens if her magic lets rip again when she's in a civilian hospital?" Ross posed. "I've got the lives of everyday people to think of, Stark. Something that the Avengers continuously fail to consider."

"Sir, you can't do this," Tony argued angrily but Ross cut across him.

"The Accords give me the legal right to indefinitely detain any signatories I deem to be a threat. She signed them, Stark, as did you. I suggest you and the rest of your team back down before you find yourself in a similar situation."

Tony bit down on a scathing retort. Angering Ross and getting himself seized wouldn't allow him to get Hermione the help she needed.

Natasha seethed with anger when she found out that Hermione had been carted off to some unknown location and called Ross some extremely colourful names that Tony was glad the Secretary didn't hear.

"I'm going," she told Tony, "Wherever they've sent her, I'm going too."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Tony questioned. "T'Challa might not have told Ross what you did to allow Steve and Barnes to escape but that doesn't mean that he won't. Ross can put you away for that."

"Like I care," Natasha snarled, shoving him out of the way in her annoyance that he had stood by and let Ross's men seize Hermione.

Tony had taken Ross at his word and made sure that F.R.I.D.A.Y had put together the most highly qualified and experienced obstetricians available and had pooled all his considerable resources together to have them flown to Hermione's location. On the way over there, Tony briefed the doctors on Hermione's medical history and condition as much as he could, and warned them all that she could be quite a handful of a patient if she regained consciousness. Tony had just handed over medical information from the doctor she'd seen in Vienna, as well as her usual physician back in the U.S, when F.R.I.D.A.Y flagged up a priority upload from Berlin police. He knew that F.R.I.D.A.Y wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't important.

"What am I looking at?" he asked, seeing surveillance images projected from his phone.

"The Task Force called for a psychiatrist as soon as Barnes was captured. The UN dispatched Dr Theo Broussard from Geneva within the hour. He was met by this man."

Tony looked at the face of the 'doctor' who had interviewed Barnes with a feeling of dread. F.R.I.D.A.Y had discovered that the fake doctor was actually Colonel Helmut Zemo from Sokovian intelligence, and had run a Sokovian covert kill squad. "What happened to the real Broussard?"

"He was found dead in a Berlin hotel room where police also found a wig and facial prosthesis approximating the appearance of one James Buchanan Barnes," F.R.I.D.A.Y informed him.

A boulder dropped into Tony's stomach. Steve had been telling the truth. He'd known it, deep down, but his disbelief and exasperation at Steve's actions and treatment of Hermione had prevented Tony from acknowledging it. And now Hermione's life hung in the balance and Steve had disappeared somewhere to take on five more super soldiers with only Barnes for backup. Zemo had single-handedly wreaked havoc in their lives and Steve and Hermione were set to be the ones to pay most dearly. Well, Tony might've monumentally screwed up in the last couple of days but he was damned if he was going to sit by and let that happen.

"Get this to Ross," he ordered F.R.I.D.A.Y and silently urged his jet to speed even faster to Hermione's location.

When he saw the island prison that Hermione was being held in, Tony's sense of unease spread. Even if Hermione hopefully somehow lived past the next few hours and safely delivered her baby, Tony doubted that Ross would willingly let her leave this place. He suspected that Ross didn't even care that Hermione hadn't violated the Accords since signing them - his fear of her and her power meant he wanted her locked away regardless

As soon as his jet landed, Tony saw to it that the obstetricians were sent to Hermione. Ross looked on unemotionally as the nervous medics hurried to treat their patient.

"How is she?" Tony asked anxiously, knowing that Hermione must be alive because Ross would have said something otherwise.

"Conscious," he replied shortly. "Nearly tearing the medical facility to shreds with her magic."

Tony's heart clenched painfully. "The baby?"

"In distress. None of my medics have been able to get close enough to examine her again since she woke but they tell me her waters broke ten minutes ago."

Tony didn't know whether that was a good thing or not given the circumstances. "Right… Did you get the files? Let's reroute the satellites, start facial scanning for this Zemo guy."

"You seriously think I'm going to take your advice again after what happened in Leipzig?" Ross sneered.

Tony fought down on every urge he had to argue with Ross because he knew it would be hopeless. The time had come to act. He'd brought Hermione the best aid he could but, as distressing as it was to know she was suffering so much, there was nothing else he could do to help her now other than to join forces with Steve.

Ross gave him permission to enter the cells to talk to Steve's team in the hopes that they would reveal his location, but Tony had little intention of sharing any intel with Ross if he continued to ignore the Zemo threat.

Tony had observed the passive, brooding forms of his former colleagues on Ross's security footage but as soon as he entered into the cell complex, they sprang to life and hurried to the doors of their cells asking after Hermione.

"She's - getting treatment," Tony said, faltering a little. "I've brought her the best doctors I could find."

"If anything happens to her or that baby I swear to God I will break through this glass and punch you in the face," Clint said antagonistically, looking like he meant every word. "How could you let them bring her here?"

"Ross calls the shots now, you know that," Tony replied. His voice sounded bitter but he couldn't care less if the Secretary of State was offended as he listened in.

Clint scoffed. "Since when has your ego diminished enough to allow you to take orders from anybody else?"

"Since what happened in Sokovia," Tony replied tightly.

"Yeah, you feel guilty about that?" Clint questioned almost sarcastically. "I seem to remember Hermione trying to get you to stop all that Ultron shit at the time so how come she's the one paying the price for you finally getting some whacked version of a conscience?"

"Give me a break, Barton," Tony snapped. "I had no idea this is how things would unfold. You think I want this to be happening to her?"

"I thought you'd do more to stop it from happening," Clint retorted. "That you might be willing to put your neck on the line for one of the few people you actually seem to care about."

Tony resisted the urge to clench his hands into fists at Clint's scathing words. "My hands are tied by the Accords," Tony said. "Unlike you, I intend to follow them." This was only partly true but he had no plan to make Ross aware of that.

"And what about Hermione - how did she end up here? She didn't break your precious Accords."

Tony briefly considered telling them all that Hermione had signed the Accords, which meant that Ross had the legal right to detain her as he saw fit, but he didn't think he could do so without sounding remorseful and sympathetic. Ross was watching in and listening to everything that was happening, and Tony didn't want to arouse his suspicions any further than he was about to. Instead of answering Barton, Tony simply turned away from him.

Clint banged on the glass angrily. "You self-serving, spineless bastard!"

Tony's gaze fell on Sam. The quiet animosity coming from Wilson was particularly potent, though not as obvious as Clint's blatant aggression. Tony's best chance of helping Steve was through Sam. The veteran had become extremely close to Hermione and Steve in the last couple of years and it was evident that the whole situation was hurting him greatly. Perhaps the best way to get him on side, to see that Tony wanted to help, was to be honest with him.

"Is she conscious?" Sam asked tightly.

Tony nodded.

"Her magic?"

Tony grimaced slightly. "Out of control again. I gather it's making treating her more difficult. You got any suggestions?"

"I got her to focus and contain her inner magic on the way to the hospital in Vienna by isolating her from the rest of the room, calm breathing. That was difficult enough so, given the current situation, I think it's going to be next to impossible to calm her down," Sam said bleakly. "I already gave it my best shot in the field before we were all arrested."

"Right," Tony said trying to be assertive but his insides writhed in despair at the prospect of an unhappy ending for Hermione or the baby.

"I believe you when you say you didn't intend for any of this to happen - particularly to Hermione," Sam began and Tony was certain that the word 'but' was bearing down on them. Sure enough, "But Barton's right - anything happens to either of them, you'd better watch your back. And God help you when Steve finds out."

"Look - "

"You convinced her to sign, didn't you?" Sam accused. "That's why she was given authority to see Barnes before things went to shit. That's what you meant when you told Ross's men that she's on 'your side' and that's why you couldn't fight where he's put her: he's got the authority to lock her up if she's signed."

Tony recalled his intention to be honest with Sam but he couldn't force himself to confirm Hermione's status on the Accords. It didn't matter - Sam saw the truth in his face.

"You emotionally manipulated a distressed and heavily pregnant woman into signing her rights away," Sam stated coldly.

"I was protecting her!" Tony retorted angrily.

"And look where it's got her," Sam snapped. "Protection, my ass."

"This is _not_ all my fault," Tony insisted because it couldn't be… not again…

To distract himself from that possibility, he pressed a button on his watch. Sam noticed and looked at him suspiciously.

"I just knocked the 'A' out of their 'AV'. We got about thirty seconds before they realise it's not their equipment. Just look." He produced a holographic image of Doctor Broussard. "Because that is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes. Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

"That's a first," Sam said bluntly.

"I've brought Hermione the best help I can; there's nothing more I can do for her right now. But Steve - it sounds like he needs all the help he can get and maybe I owe him that," Tony told him truthfully. "Owe them both. It's not going to fix everything but I just need to know where he is."

Sam gazed at him warily and Tony was conscious of the precious seconds that were ticking by. "All right, I'll tell you," Sam said, still looking uneasy. "But you've got to go alone and as a friend."

"Easy," Tony promised.

"One more thing," Sam said. "Before you go, you look Hermione in the eye and tell her what you're going to do. Give her hope…"

* * *

It was the worst Tony had ever felt.

Seeing the despair and helplessness on Hermione's face made him sick to his stomach.

The medical room was almost incapacitated by the outbursts from her magic: there were deep cracks in a couple of the walls, some of the equipment was crumpled and blackened, and small, dark explosions occurred every few seconds. The medical staff were all sporting signs of magical wounds and a couple of them were thrown to the floor as Tony watched but, to their credit, they were all still there trying to help her. As was Natasha. There was a burn across her forehead and some of her distinctive red hair had the appearance of being singed. She was holding herself strangely, giving Tony the impression that she might have damaged ribs, but she was still by Hermione's side gripping her arm and speaking to her intently.

The armed guards on the door looked like they thought Tony was insane for wanting to enter the room but he had promised Sam, and he knew it was the right thing to do. And if Sam was right and a little hope helped her in any way then it was worth an encounter with her volatile magic.

The sound of her wail cut through him the moment the door was released and he clenched his jaw tightly and forced himself to continue.

Natasha gave him a grim look as he approached and he could tell from her expression that he couldn't expect to hear good news. Every sob that echoed from Hermione's chest felt like a stab in his heart and he'd never felt more useless. What was the point of all of his intelligence and billions if he couldn't help her in her moment of need?

She let out another wail when she saw him. " _Tony!_ " she cried, her voice rasping and her eyes terrified. " _I've killed my baby_!"

Tony stopped, unable to think or breathe at her devastating announcement.

Everything in the medical facility trembled and sparked as an unseen wave of her magic let rip.

"No, you haven't," Natasha told her firmly, gripping her shoulder and Tony drew in a ragged breath of pure relief. "Everything's going to be fine, Hermione."

"It won't," Hermione sobbed, shaking her head. "I've killed the baby, I know it!"

Tony grabbed the arm of the nearest doctor, not knowing what to believe but needing answers. "What's happening?"

"It's hard to get a clear picture but the baby has shown clear indications of distress," the woman told him, her voice both concerned and clinical. "We were not confident that a c-section would be completed safely for both mother and child considering the volatile and unpredictable outbursts, but labour has progressed too quickly anyway."

"It's still alive?" he asked hopefully.

"We believe so," the doctor replied cautiously. "And the sooner it's delivered the greater its chances of survival assuming nothing was damaged during the magical transportation she performed."

Tony nodded stiffly. "I see. And the threat to her?"

The doctor gave an uncertain frown. "Her chances are better now that she is conscious but it's impossible for us to tell at present what damage is being wrought within. Though she is strong, the toll this experience is taking on her is very concerning."

Tony swallowed with difficulty. "Thank you for sticking it out - things look rough in here."

"She needs our help," the doctor replied simply and turned back to her colleagues.

Tony took a deep breath and walked to Hermione's side. Her skin was flushed and slick with sweat but he took her other hand, bracing himself for the connection he would make to her feelings. Despite his preparations, the onslaught of emotions was almost too much for him to bear and he resisted the instinct to immediately let go of her hand. He fought against the overwhelming fear, grief and pain she was experiencing and brushed some of her hair away from her eyes to kiss her forehead. Tears slid down her cheeks and she gripped his hand painfully tight as she let out another tortured moan.

"Hang in there, kid," he told her softly. "Don't lose hope."

The heartbreak in her gaze caused another dreadful chill to sweep through his body. "I've lost them both," she sobbed sorrowfully. "Steve and the baby - I've lost them, Tony!"

"You haven't," he told her firmly. "You've got the best doctors I could find to take care of you and the baby. And I talked to Sam, I know where Steve's gone, I'm going to help him." There was no chance of him being overheard by Ross in here with Hermione's destructive magic running loose but he still kept his voice low so only Hermione and Natasha could hear him. "I'll feed Ross some story - he won't listen to me anymore."

Hermione's eyes searched his face desperately. "You know Steve was telling the truth? You'll stop the other Winter Soldiers? You won't arrest Steve?"

"This trip is strictly off the record," he reassured her.

A potent sense of relief swept through him from her. "Please do everything you can to save him," she begged, tears filling her eyes once more. "I couldn't bear to lose them both."

Tony left soon afterwards. He felt guilty for leaving Hermione in such a state but he needed to get to Siberia to stop Zemo's threat. He'd quickly passed on the details of the remote location to Natasha in case something should go wrong, and had made her promise to protect Hermione to the best of her ability while he was gone.

After fobbing Ross off with a story of seeking out more medical help for Hermione Stateside, Tony boarded his chopper and took off into the night. When he'd put a little distance between himself and the raft prison, he pressed a button inside the helicopter that encased him in an Iron Man suit and exited the craft, speeding off to Siberia.

Tony couldn't bear being left alone with his thoughts on the rapid but substantial journey, and he engaged F.R.I.D.A.Y in conversation constantly to avoid thinking about what he might find when he got there or what he'd left behind.

The sight of the quinjet confirmed that he was in the right place. There was no sign of anybody on board so Tony entered through the open bunker doors on high alert. As he made his way through the deserted facility, the lack of sound or signs of life increased his nerves. Finally F.R.I.D.A.Y alerted him to two heat signatures nearby and he was sure that must be Steve and Barnes. He prised open a set of metal doors and caught sight of the pair crouched defensively halfway up a flight of stairs down the corridor. Steve looked to be armed with nothing but his shield but Barnes had one of the quinjet's light machine guns levelled at him. They made no move to drop their positions as he stepped into the corridor so he retracted his face mask.

Steve lowered his shield slightly and took a couple of uncertain steps forwards. Tony opened his mouth to tell him about the danger Hermione and the baby were in, to admit to him how he'd messed up, but he couldn't get the words out. Would it be kinder to Steve to let him be ignorant to his family's plight until they got the job done? If this whole Barnes thing had proven anything it was how emotionally compromised Steve could become for those he cared about. Perhaps Tony was just being a coward. So, instead he said, "You seem a little defensive."

Steve nodded, watching Tony closely as they closed the gap between them. "It's been a long day."

Tony lifted his gaze to Barnes who hadn't relaxed his position at all. "At ease, soldier. I'm not currently after you."

"Then why are you here?" Steve asked. "Did Hermione send you?"

Tony fought not to show any emotion at her name and he sent a silent prayer back to that accursed prison that she and the baby were still winning their fight to survive. He nodded stiffly. "Could be your story's not so crazy. Maybe. Ross has no idea I'm here. I'd like to keep it that way otherwise I gotta arrest myself."

"That sounds like a lot of paperwork," Steve said and Tony gave him the briefest smile. Steve's posture completely relaxed. "It's good to see you, Tony."

Tony's conscience prickled uncomfortably at the earnest tone in Steve's voice. "You too, Cap," he replied.

"Things back there must be a little messed up," Steve said, looking anxious about the fate of his wife and friends.

"Don't worry about it," Tony said, his guilt increasing, "We've got a job to do." He lifted his eyes to Barnes and was irritated to see the gun still aimed at him. "Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here. You can drop…" Steve made a lowering motion with his hand and Barnes finally obliged.

The three of them carried on the exploration of the facility together.

"I got heat signatures," Tony told the others as they stepped into a large, dark passageway.

"How many?" Steve asked.

Tony frowned at the information his suit was showing him. "Uh, one."

They emerged from the passage into a huge, shadowed chamber. A number of capsules lined the walls and they were suddenly lit up as the three men stepped into the room. Within each one, Tony could just make out the stationary form of a seated person.

"If it's any comfort," a voice suddenly rang out from some speakers, "they died in their sleep."

The three of them advanced slowly, looking out for a sign of Zemo. As they passed the nearest capsule, Tony could see a single gunshot had cracked the glass and struck the muscular man in the forehead. Just what in the hell was going on?

"Did you really think I wanted more of you?" the hidden voice continued. "I'm grateful to them, though. They brought you here."

A small light switched on at the far end of the chamber to reveal a face. Tony trained his repulsors at it as Steve launched the shield. It impacted solidly against a window and Steve grabbed it as it rebounded to him.

"Please, Captain," Zemo scoffed. "The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR-100 rockets."

"I'm betting I could beat that," Tony called, as the three of them advanced towards Zemo's position cautiously.

"Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr Stark, given time," Zemo replied calmly. "But then you'd never know why you came."

The threat that Tony had anticipated facing here wasn't the same as the reality, but he would be foolish to underestimate Zemo after all he had been able to manipulate to get what he wanted.

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked angrily, his thoughts along similar lines to Tony's.

Zemo watched Steve intently as the distance between them was reduced to just a couple of feet. "I've thought about nothing else for over a year," he revealed softly. "I studied you. I followed you. But now that you're standing here, I just realized…" he leaned forwards until his nose was almost touching the glass, "there's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes. How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian," Steve said with a hint of heavy realisation. "Is that what this is about?"

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell. No." Zemo shook his head. "I'm here because I made a promise."

"You lost someone," Steve said in that heavy tone again.

Tony didn't like this uncertainty. He almost wished that they _were_ dealing with the super soldiers because at least then he'd know what he was up against. Whatever Zemo had planned, it wasn't going to be just a chat, and Tony was worried that there was going to be some unexpected danger that he wasn't going to be able to protect Steve from. He couldn't bear the idea of letting Hermione down.

Zemo was staring at Steve while his emotions clearly simmered just below the surface. "I lost everyone. And so will you."

Zemo's final words hit a little too close to home for Tony. He didn't think it was possible for Zemo to have orchestrated the peril Hermione and the baby were in but he wouldn't have believed the Sokovian successfully capable of bringing himself, Steve and Barnes to this chamber either…

He had to tell Steve the truth about Hermione. The game had changed drastically in the last few moments and Steve needed to be aware of what was happening to his wife and child before he made any more decisions.

A small computer screen switched on next to Steve, who turned to look at it. "An empire toppled by its enemies can rise again," Zemo said as Tony walked forwards. "But one that crumples from within?"

"Cap," Tony said heavily as Steve looked sharply at Zemo. "There's something you should know."

"That's dead," Zemo said solemnly. "Forever."

Tony ignored Zemo's sinister prophecy and laid a hand on Steve's shoulder. "God, I don't know how to tell - " He paused as his eyes flickered to the screen Steve was watching. It was CCTV footage. "I know that road," he said, his mind going oddly blank. The date in the corner of the screen showed December 16th 1991 and his heart froze. "What is this?" he called to Zemo but the other man didn't reply.

Tony turned back to the footage and watched as a car crashed forcefully into a tree. A moment later, a figure on a motorbike appeared by the flaming wreckage. Tony recognised the form of his father as he stumbled out of the car door to his knees. The figure on the motorbike, Barnes, dismounted and pulled his father up by the hair. The two men stared at each other for a moment. Tony briefly glared over at the rigid form of Barnes that was just a few feet away from him. When he looked back to the screen, he saw Barnes pound his father in the face twice. Tony momentarily closed his eyes as a wretched grief swept through him.

Upon opening them, he saw, through tears, Barnes place his father's slumped, dead form back behind the wheel of the car. His heart pounded as he saw shadowed movement from the passenger seat. His mother had survived the crash too. But then he watched Barnes move round to the passenger side door and his right arm disappeared inside the vehicle. Tony could only watch the dim shadows of a struggle and the emotionless face of Barnes in horror, as the assassin murdered his mother in cold blood.

Finally, Barnes walked over to the camera, gun raised, and fired.

Tony stared at the blank screen, breathing heavily, as his body simmered with rage and grief. He lunged towards Barnes but Steve held him back.

"No, Tony," Steve urged.

A sickening thought occurred to him as he turned towards Steve. He tried to dismiss the notion but he just couldn't push it away. He levelled his gaze with Steve's. "Did you know?" he asked hoarsely.

Steve didn't break eye contact but he did pause before saying, "I didn't know it was him."

"Don't _bullshit_ me, Rogers," Tony hissed. " _Did you know_?"

Again, Steve stared at him for a few seconds before admitting, "Yes."

Tony stepped away from him, the revelation like a physical blow to his chest.

And then he snapped.

The next few minutes were a blur of blind rage as Tony did everything he could to get to Barnes, and Steve tried his utmost to stop him. Steve's cries that Barnes had been under HYDRA's influence fell on deaf ears and their desperate struggle left the compound devastated in their wake. After Barnes had tried to escape through the missile launch tower, Tony and Steve tumbled to the concrete floor far below.

"This isn't going to change what happened," Steve told him breathlessly, staggering slightly. The snow was almost blindingly bright as it drifted in through the gaps in the concrete behind him.

"I don't care," Tony replied. "He killed my mom."

He launched himself at Steve and they exchanged a few punches before Tony managed to pin Steve to the floor. He raised his fist to punch him again but Barnes appeared, knocking Tony off Steve with the shield. Tony fired his repulsors at the assassin but he hid behind the shield. All of a sudden they were both taking him on together. He managed to kick Steve away but Barnes held him forcefully against the wall as he tried to prise out the glowing core of the Iron Man suit. A surge of energy blasted Barnes away, stripping him of his metal arm. Tony quickly shot a repulsor at him. Barnes fell to the floor and didn't get up.

Steve rushed at Tony, holding up the shield. Tony tried to blast him away but he kept coming. He sent a prolonged burst but the shield stood up to the task.

There was a loud bang and, for a split-second, Tony thought that Barnes had got a hold of a gun but then he was thrown roughly off his feet by an invisible force. He looked around ready to fend off the next attack but all he saw was -

" _Hermione?_ "

She looked awful. Her hair was a wild mess, her ghostly skin contrasting with the dark circles under her eyes and wildness of her haunted gaze. Her body was shaking violently most likely due to the cold because she was severely underdressed for the weather and what she was wearing was stained and tattered.

But in his raging quest for vengeance Tony didn't see any of that.

"Hermione," Steve repeated, stumbling over to her. "I don't - "

Tony stormed to his feet and retracted his mask. "Did you know?" he asked her furiously.

She recoiled from his hostility, looking confused and terrified as she clutched at her own body. "Kn-know what? I- I don't understand what's happening!"

Steve reached his wife, his eyes raking over her form anxiously. "Tony, stop," he urged with a quick glance.

" _Did you know he killed my parents_?" Tony seethed, his boiling hatred for Barnes still dictating his thoughts and actions beyond sense and reason.

Her bewildered gaze changed at his words. The same guilt that he'd seen in Steve's eyes was echoed in Hermione's and, after a pause, she quietly admitted, "We only knew it was HYDRA's doing."

"Then you _knew_ it was him!" Tony cried his soul shattering further. "Who else would it have been?"

" _Tony_ ," Steve repeated firmly, his arms around Hermione protectively, but Tony was too far gone and he let out a yell of rage as he stepped towards her once more.

" _Again!"_ he fumed. "Even after everything we went through about your past - you still had the gall to keep things from me; _lie_ to me! How could you -" his voice broke and his shoulders slumped as her betrayal pierced through him. "How could you stand next to me and encourage me to work through those memories without telling me the truth?" he asked, tears blurring his vision as he recalled her emotional response to his BARF programme. "You two were conspiring together again - plotting behind my back to keep me from knowing the truth," he accused bitterly.

" _No_!" Hermione cried emotionally, tears on her cheeks. "I didn't want to hurt you!"

"Well, you did!" Tony roared and Hermione shuddered.

" _Enough_!" Steve barked at him. "It's over." Tony glared past him at the struggling form of Barnes, debating whether to try again, as Steve turned to Hermione. "How are you here?" he asked her in concern, his gloved hand against her cheek. "The baby - "

"I- I went into labour," she said shakily.

" _What?_ But _-_ "

"The doctors took the baby away," she continued, starting to cry again. "Steve, I don't even know if it's a boy or a girl!"

"But why would they - "

"My magic - I couldn't contain it - I tried, Steve, I tried _so_ hard," she collapsed into sobs and he had to hold her to stop her dropping to the floor. "But I apparated - to save Rhodes - that's when it all went wrong - I hurt our baby!"

The wretched sound of Hermione's plight cracked into Tony's red mist and reality began to seep back into his brain.

Steve tried to console her as he seated her on the ground, but it was clear he didn't understand what had happened.

"When I tried to go to the baby to find out if it was OK, the guards wouldn't let me," she explained. "I - "

"Guards," Steve interrupted sharply. "What guards?"

"Secretary Ross," she breathed.

Steve looked over at Tony. "Did you know about this?" he asked, his voice steely.

"Tony brought me the best doctors," Hermione said quickly, trying to draw Steve's gaze back to hers. "He came here to help you - I couldn't lose you - the Winter Soldiers - "

Steve left Hermione's side quicker than Tony could have anticipated and he had no time to put his mask back in place before Steve punched him below his right eye. "You _bastard_." Tony kicked him away, reslotted the mask, and prepared to defend himself. "My wife and child are locked up and in danger and you don't tell me?!" Steve lunged again. "You knew my child might be dying but instead you decided to play right into Zemo's hands and seek vengeance against an innocent man?"

Tony's mind and soul had already been laid waste by what had happened and, at Steve's accusatory tone that once again this was all his fault, Tony couldn't contain the seething anger and frustration that had simmered away at Steve from the last few days, weeks, months and even years.

"No!" Hermione cried weakly as the two of them sought to take out their pain on the other. There was no sense to it but that didn't stop them from seeking to destroy each other.

" _No!_ " Hermione yelled more forcefully, throwing them apart again as Steve sought to bring the shield rim down on Tony's helmet. She swayed on her feet but her eyes were blazing with intensity. "I came here to save you all," she said thickly then turned heartbroken eyes on Steve. "To bring you to our child before it's too late."

Shame momentarily twisted Steve's face. "Let's go," he said before staggering over to lift a stirring Barnes to his feet.

Tony's insides writhed with displeasure at the sight of them preparing to leave together.

"I'm so sorry," he heard Steve say to Hermione. "I'll never be able to make it up to you." With his free arm he pulled a crying Hermione into his side and she buried her face into his chest.

The sight of them all behind the shield as he lay on his own on the floor, left a bitter taste inside Tony's bruised soul. "That shield doesn't belong to you," he hurled at them. "You don't deserve it. My father made that shield!"

Hermione and Steve looked over at him and Tony had never felt so small in his life. Steve dropped the shield with a clatter and made to move away. Hermione didn't move. She just cried where she stood, staring at him. He looked away, tears beginning to obscure his vision again.

He sensed her take a couple of steps towards him. " _Don't,"_ he muttered. He couldn't bear to be near her. It was too raw. He didn't need to touch her skin to know that she hadn't meant to hurt him but the fact remained that she had. Nor had he meant to hurt her but he still had…

They were better off apart.

Surely they couldn't continue down this path without tearing each other to shreds.

"I love you, Tony," he heard her whisper and his gut clenched painfully. Because that mutual love was what made this parting of the ways all the harder.

She hesitated for a moment, perhaps hoping that he'd say it back, but then they were gone.

* * *

A/N Let me know what you think. It was challenging to rework this scene with the added aspect of Hermione/baby to show how they'd all hurt each other. :-(

Only one chapter left in this fic now!


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I won't keep you waiting - I know lots of you were anxious for this update.

* * *

With every minute that ticked past, Natasha grew more and more certain that Secretary Ross was going to discover that Hermione was gone. Natasha had tried her best to stop her from going but it was clear that Hermione hadn't been thinking clearly. That was hardly a surprise: she'd just endured a highly traumatic birth and believed her husband and child were doomed to death. The doctors had rushed the child away seconds after it was born - probably fearing that Hermione's outbursts of magic were still a threat - and despite Natasha's protestations that Hermione was the best suited to _heal_ her own baby, the armed guards on the door made it quite clear that wasn't going to be an option.

Natasha had spat and cursed at them in her native Russian as they re-sealed the door but Hermione suddenly grabbed her arm and said with wide, almost mad-looking eyes, "I've got to save him. He should be here."

"What are you - " Natasha began to ask, but stopped when it became quite clear that she was readying herself to leave. "Hermione, you can't!"

The doctors that had remained in the ruined medical room with Hermione tried to push her back into the bed, explaining how damaged and exhausted her body was.

"I can't lose them both!" Hermione forced out hysterically, tears in her eyes. "I'll stun all the guards if I have to in order to get to my baby, and Ross can rot in hell! But I have to get to Steve and bring him here before… before it's too late for either of them," she choked.

Natasha could understand her willingness to turn her back on Ross and the Accords - it wasn't as though he could contain Hermione anymore. "But what if," Natasha began and then hesitated. It wasn't like her to lack the courage but it was a particularly painful question. "What if it _would_ be too late if you went to Steve? Why don't you take care of the guards now - be with the baby and use your magic to heal it if you can?"

Hermione shuddered. "My magic has been killing my child," she said solemnly. "The baby needs to be kept away from me for now in case I make things worse."

Natasha didn't believe that. Over the years, she'd seen Hermione do such incredible things with her magic and she was sure that Hermione had the best chance of healing the child. But she could sense that Hermione felt betrayed by her abilities; that she was repulsed by what had happened.

"Tell me where Steve went," Hermione ordered, pushing the flapping hands of the doctors away.

"Hermione," Natasha tried again reluctantly.

"Tell me or I'll search your mind anyway," Hermione said harshly.

This was a side of Hermione that Natasha had never seen before and it scared her. Not due to her own safety but for the well-being of her normally compassionate and gentle friend.

After Natasha told her about the location in Siberia, she waved her hand at the window and door of the room, casting some spells to act as measures to hide her departure, and then disapparated. The two doctors were rather shocked and clearly very uneasy about the loss of their patient, but there was little any of them could do except wait for her to come back.

If she ever did.

Five Winter Soldiers were an incredibly dangerous threat, but the look in Hermione's eyes before she'd left made Natasha feel like nothing was going to stand in her way.

It was an anxious wait.

Natasha's thoughts flitted between her close friends in Siberia and their newborn child only a few feet away. The fate of the infant weighed particularly heavily on her mind but she was reluctant to leave the room to check on the baby's progress in case it interfered with Hermione's spells.

One of the other doctors entered the room after about thirty minutes and Natasha tensed, waiting for the guards to sound the alarm that Hermione was missing, but they acted like they could see nothing wrong - obviously Hermione's spells were working.

"It's good to see her resting," the returning doctor commented as he looked at the empty bed. The doctors who had remained with Natasha shared surprised looks but Natasha quickly spoke before they revealed anything.

"Yes, she was exhausted. How's the baby?"

Her heart hammered in her chest as she awaited the doctor's response.

"Responding well," he replied, an encouraging smile on his face and the wave of relief Natasha felt was almost overwhelming. "Her vitals are improving rapidly with each passing minute and there doesn't appear to be any damage done by the magical transportation."

Natasha's breath stuck in her throat. "It's a girl?" she asked, feeling inexplicably emotional at the revelation.

He nodded. "She's a fighter."

"It's in her blood," Natasha murmured thickly, fighting the unexpected urge to cry.

"Tell her when she wakes," the doctor requested, nodding at where he still believed a sleeping Hermione to be.

Ten minutes had passed since that wonderful news and Natasha desperately wanted to go to Steve and Hermione's daughter so that she had someone who loved her nearby. And she did love her. It didn't matter that Natasha hadn't even met the baby, she knew deep in her heart that she would do anything to protect that baby girl from harm. Still, the only thing that kept her in that room was the fear that leaving it would break Hermione's enchantment.

To Natasha's immense relief, Hermione and Steve arrived with a pop a few minutes later. She was so pleased to see them after a hellish couple of days that she was tempted to pull them into a hug, but she knew that could wait - they needed to know about their daughter.

"Nat," Steve greeted tightly, looking distinctly battered as he clutched Hermione's hand tightly in his. Natasha noticed that Hermione looked even more haunted than when she'd left and she briefly wondered how terrible the battle had been in Siberia.

"It's good news," Natasha told them. "The doctor said your daughter is getting stronger every minute."

Hermione let out a soft cry and collapsed against Steve, sobbing in evident relief and the whole room trembled. Steve held her up, wrapping his arms around her, but briefly closed his eyes as he took in the news. "Daughter?" he repeated, looking at Natasha once more, his voice choked with emotion.

Natasha nodded, smiling. "So I've been told."

"Our daughter," Steve told the still crying Hermione. "Did you hear that, sweetheart?"

Hermione lifted her head from Steve's chest and looked at Natasha. "She's OK? You promise she's OK?"

Natasha closed the distance between them and placed a supportive hand on her back. "That's what the doctor told me, I promise." Hermione transferred her hug to Natasha, squeezing her tightly, but Natasha embraced her back just as firmly. "She's a fighter, apparently."

"Like her mother," Steve supplied, kissing the top of Hermione's head.

"Like her father," Hermione murmured.

"Like both of you," Natasha corrected, stepping out of Hermione's arms. "I think it's time we all met her. Do you know how you want to play this?"

Now that their daughter was out of immediate danger, there seemed to be an alteration in their plan of attack. Hermione and Steve had been prepared to go in on full offensive mode to get to their baby, but now they were in favour of a more covert strategy.

"T'Challa's sending a craft from Wakanda," Steve informed Natasha. "He thought his medical care might be able to offer a different perspective if it was needed."

"Ross has no grounds to stop our baby being transferred to the Wakandan jet if that's my wish," Hermione continued and Natasha hoped she was right. "If I disguise Steve, he can leave right under Ross's nose too."

"Well, don't think you're leaving me behind," Natasha stated. "Ross can stuff his Accords up his ass - I'm coming with you two." They tried to convince her otherwise but this experience had been enough to make her see which side she belonged to. "What about everyone in the cells?"

Steve grimaced.

"We can get them out another time," Hermione said firmly. "For once, I'm putting my family first."

Getting past the guards was ridiculously easy once Hermione worked her magic. They didn't even bat an eyelid when Hermione and Steve exited the room with Natasha and the doctors and, within two minutes, they were all meeting baby-girl Rogers for the first time.

The world had been such a dark and heavy place for the last few days that it was utterly heartwarming to witness such a precious moment. Hermione was crying again as she gazed down at her daughter and Steve looked utterly besotted. It was beautiful.

"Her recovery has been really quite miraculous," a female doctor told them. "She's as stable as any average newborn now but when she was born her prognosis wasn't at all favourable."

"I guess having a super-soldier father and magical mother is good for something," Natasha commented with a smirk.

"Can we hold her?" Steve asked.

The doctor nodded encouragingly. "We've kept her warm but there's nothing quite like skin to skin contact for settling a newborn after a traumatic birth."

Steve glanced at Hermione but she blanched a little and shook her head. "Skin contact with me might be too overwhelming for her. You can do it, Steve."

It was slightly surreal to watch Steve shrug off his Captain America suit to cradle a tiny infant against his bruised chest whilst Ross was completely clueless a few dozen feet away. The baby snuffled and whimpered a little as she was delicately moved into Steve's hands but she soon settled down. Steve was understandably tense to begin with but his happiness soon shone through as he bonded with his daughter.

"She's so perfect," he whispered, reaching his spare hand out to Hermione. She allowed herself to be pulled into his side and was just content to stand and watch for a few minutes before the doctors urged her to let them check how her body was coping following the labour.

Far sooner than any of them would have anticipated, Steve received word via a device that T'Challa had given him that the Wakandan jet was making its final approach. "You know, I think there's more to Wakanda than meets the eye," Steve murmured as he handed Natasha the extremely technologically-advanced device.

"I need to return to my medical room," Hermione told them. "That's where Ross believes me to be and things need to run as close to his expectations as possible to get you both on the jet." She briefly kissed the edge of Steve's mouth and delivered a feather-light kiss to the baby's head. "I promise they won't notice you, Steve. Just stick by her and make sure you both get on that jet."

Natasha watched her thank the doctors with a growing sense of unease.

"This is a stupid question, I know, but is she alright?" Natasha asked as Hermione exited the room with a final nod.

Steve sighed deeply and his previous contentedness was washed away in an instant. "No, I don't think so." He explained what happened in Siberia and how harshly she'd taken the break with Tony. "Everything has fallen apart for her - the dream we'd had of bringing up our family in a safe, reasonably normal home has been completely shattered. We don't know what the next few hours are going to hold let alone months or years. To say it's been a shock to the system is a bit of an understatement."

This was hardly reassuring but, given recent events, that wasn't surprising. They were all wounded by this experience and it would take time to heal from it.

Everything that followed happened very quickly.

Baby-girl Rogers had only just been replaced in her makeshift cot before Secretary Ross stormed in. He scowled at Natasha but made no sign of being able to see Steve. "I suppose it was your doing getting this group from Wakanda here."

"Wakanda?" Natasha repeated. "I don't know what you mean."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "So Hermione Rogers managed to bring them here on her own to get them to take her baby away?"

"Well, seeing as I don't even know where 'here' is, you can rule me out, sir. Perhaps it was Tony - he went to get more medical support, didn't he?"

Ross glared at her for a moment longer before transferring his gaze to the tiny child. "I've been told it's making a strong recovery."

"Yes, she is," Natasha replied, biting back, ' _no thanks to you, sir'._ Although she didn't believe Ross wished the child dead or ill in any way, she strongly suspected that he'd prefer to keep her under lock and key.

Ross retreated to the control room and the doctors and medics from Wakanda made swift work of transporting Baby-girl Rogers carefully to the jet; Steve right by his daughter the entire time.

Natasha returned to Hermione's dilapidated treatment room so as to put Ross off her scent. As soon as she stepped past the guards, Natasha knew she'd been right to be worried - Hermione's body language was all wrong.

The two women stared at each other for a moment.

"Hermione - "

"She's better off without me," Hermione interrupted. "You heard what the doctors said - the minute she was away from me she started to get better."

"That's not what they meant!" Natasha argued, taking a couple of steps forward anxiously.

"I nearly killed her in the very act of becoming a mother," Hermione pointed out, sounding eerily calm. "It's too dangerous for her to be around my magic."

"She needs her mother, Hermione," Natasha stated vehemently, not wanting to believe what was happening.

"I'm doing the right thing for her," Hermione insisted, still composed. "Do you think this is easy for me? To say goodbye to her - to them both? If I stay with Ross I can protect my family and do everything I can to protect the people of this planet from Thanos."

"Forget Thanos!" Natasha cried.

"You wouldn't say that if you'd seen what I have," she replied, her expression a little haunted. "I know what he's capable of. I'm not going to let him destroy everything I hold dear - not again."

Natasha seized both of her arms and looked her straight in the eyes. "Hermione, you've just been through a horrific experience. You're in shock. This isn't the time for you to be making these sorts of decisions. Let the dust settle and then we'll figure out how to take on Thanos. _Please_. Your family needs you."

Instead of seeing Hermione's resolve weakening, Natasha could sense a hardening within her.

"It's too late," Hermione claimed firmly.

"What do you mean?" Natasha asked worriedly.

Hermione pulled her left arm from Natasha's grip and showed her a black device around her wrist. Natasha knew that it was an Accords-approved tracking bracelet that Hermione had agreed to wear in order to satisfy Ross after the debacle in Berlin. "You and I both know that your tracker would've been rendered useless thanks to your magical outbursts," Natasha said.

"I repaired it." Hermione answered almost robotically. "Ross confirmed it's working again. If I show up anywhere I'm not supposed to be, my version of the Accords becomes null and void."

"Who cares!" Natasha argued passionately. "You were prepared to tell Ross to go to hell an hour ago!"

"That's when I thought my baby and Steve were about to die. Things have changed," Hermione stated, her defensive wall becoming stronger with each passing moment. "You think that I've gone crazy but I'm seeing things more clearly than any of you - I'm looking at the bigger picture. I know Steve won't understand but standing by the UN is the best way to give us a future. I can't argue his cause if I'm a criminal too. Sacrifices have to be made to protect him and everyone else on this world."

It was so unlike Hermione to take the emotion out of a situation that Natasha had run out of ways to argue with her. An anger stirred within her: not necessarily at Hermione, but with the situation as a whole, and she feared the unseen damage that was being wrought within Hermione at her decision to separate herself from her husband and newborn child.

"What if I stayed and argued your cause for you instead?" Natasha suggested. "I don't have anything to lose."

Hermione's eyes softened slightly but she shook her head. "You don't have the knowledge of Thanos that I do. I need you to look after Steve and my daughter."

Natasha sighed. She wanted to stay and persuade Hermione against this course of action but there was no time: every second she stood there risked Steve and the baby's safety. With a heavy heart, she nodded stiffly and Hermione embraced her tightly. "Thank you. I'll come up for a cover story for you with Ross - make him think you leave with the doctors."

Before Natasha could respond, there was a tugging sensation and then she found herself back on the Wakandan jet. Steve glanced over at her from where he stood protectively by his daughter but Natasha hurried over to the pilot and told her to leave at once.

When he heard the engines power up, Steve gently pulled Natasha around to face him. "Where's Hermione?"

Natasha knew that the devastation on Steve's face as she explained to him about Hermione's decision would be pierced into her memory forever.

Zemo had failed to get his enemies to kill each other.

But that didn't matter.

He'd succeeded in destroying the heart of the Avengers all the same.

* * *

A/N: This marks the end of Sorceress: Civil War! I hope you've enjoyed it. Thank you so much to all those who've joined me on this journey - I hope you've been entertained. Particular thanks to the reviewers of the last chapter for all your kind words.

Let me know what you thought of the chapter! I'm sure a few of you will be surprised by Hermione's actions at the end but she's shown in the past that she's prepared to go to extreme measures to keep her family safe. The Thanos-factor and her sense of responsibility in keeping him at bay looms large over her too. At least Baby-girl Rogers is out of immediate danger. Anybody got any good name ideas?

Anyway, look out for Sorceress: Infinity War in the future!

Lots of love,

Lil Drop of Magic


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